PRIVY COUNCIL

Business Plan

Paul Tyler: To ask the President of the Council when he expects to publish the Business Plan for 2002–03 for the Privy Council Office; whether the plan will be placed on the Office's website; when he will publish the Business Plan for the Privy Council Office for the financial year 2003–04; and when it will be placed on the Office's website.

John Reid: It is not proposed to publish a Business Plan for 2002–03. The 2003–04 Business Plan has been drafted and will be published shortly.

Employment Relations Act

John Bercow: To ask the President of the Council how many staff in the Privy Council Office have taken time off from work in order to attend to domestic incidents as provided for by the Employment Relations Act 1999.

John Reid: The Privy Council Office has devolved responsibility for authorising such leave to line managers and it is not recorded centrally.

National Insurance Contributions

John Bercow: To ask the President of the Council what the cost will be to public funds in 2003–04 of the rise in national insurance contributions on the salary bill of his Department.

John Reid: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 29 April 2002, Official Report, column 542W.

Parental Leave

John Bercow: To ask the President of the Council how many staff in his Department have used their leave entitlement under the Parental Leave Directive since it came into force.

John Reid: None.

Press Office

John Bercow: To ask the President of the Council how many people are employed in his Department's press office; and how many were employed on 2 May 1997.

John Reid: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Member for Livingston (Mr. Cook) on 22 July 2002, Official Report, column 712W.

Property Portfolio

John Bercow: To ask the President of the Council what the estimated value is of the property portfolio held by the Privy Council Office.

John Reid: The Privy Council Office has no property portfolio.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

E-mail Addresses

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development by what e-mail address members of the public may contact (a) her and (b) each of the Ministers in her Department; and for each e-mail address if she will state (i) the date it became active, and (ii) the number of e-mails received in each month since activation.

Clare Short: Members of the public can contact DFID Ministers at enquiry(S)dfid.gov.uk. The address has been active since November 1997.
	The number of e-mails it has received from 1997–2000 are not stored centrally. Detailed records for 2001–03 are as follows:
	
		
			 Month 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 January 558 924 875 
			 February 553 780 846 
			 March 650 817 1,574 
			 April 526 900  
			 May 580 934  
			 June 497 869  
			 July 571 965  
			 August 536 747  
			 September 578 776  
			 October 653 872  
			 November 802 891  
			 December 636 602  
			 Yearly Totals: 7,140 10,077 3,295 
			 Monthly average: 595 840 1,098

Energy Policy

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement, in relation to her Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which her Department is responsible, on (a) the amount of energy consumed, (b) spending on (i) energy and (ii) energy efficiency measures, (c) the amount saved through energy efficiency measures and (d) energy policy in each of the last five years.

Clare Short: The information is as follows.
	(a) and (b)(i): DFID's energy consumption figures for the last five years are as follows.
	
		
			  Energy consumption (GWh/y)(1) Energy expenditure(2)(£M/y) Energy/m2(3)(kWh/m2/y) Savings over 1997–8 (percentage)(4) Energy efficiency spend £(k/y)(5) 
		
		
			 1997–98 6.82 225,513 315.49   
			 1998–99 6.87 209,602 317.75 1  
			 1999–2000 7.58 183,574 350.61 11  
			 2000–01 7.99 215,590 341.30 8  
			 2001–02 8.28 245,984 377.72 20 see below 
		
	
	Notes
	(1) Energy consumption: this is weather-corrected in the usual manner, using annual degree days relative to the 20 year average for 1990–01. The figures are those reported on for the Central Government Estate campaign, and generally include each Department's main estate plus all agencies, but not NDPBs.
	(2) Energy expenditure: this is actual spend, and from April 2001, includes the climate change levy.
	(3) Energy/m2: this variable allows for changes in both weather and estate size on energy consumption. So annual changes will generally reflect efficiency changes.
	(4) Savings over 1997–98: These have been expressed as percentage savings relative to the first year quoted here, and are based on the figures in the preceding column.
	(5) Energy efficiency spend: Note that this is not necessarily a good measure of an effective energy efficiency policy. For example, when a new building is commissioned or an existing one refurbished, good design can actually reduce capital costs, e.g by avoiding air conditioning. The costs of an effective energy management team may also not be included.
	In the past two years, energy efficiency has been built into the relocation/refurbishment plans for both sites. In London, some of the main features were:
	New plant ventilation systems (£1.5m), to replace the poorly performing existing systems;
	A new building management system (£800,000) which allows energy usage to be managed and controlled effectively;
	A new lighting installation (£1m), which is more energy efficient.
	In our East Kilbride Office, some of the main changes which are about to be made include:
	New double-glazed window units with reduced u-value (low winter heat loss) and high performance glass (low summer heat gain), and therefore utilising energy free natural ventilation in lieu of air conditioning;
	Energy efficient lighting system, including presence detectors;
	Replacement of four existing boilers with three high efficiency units.
	It is currently not possible to make meaningful direct cost comparisons on savings on energy efficiency measures with regard to the London office as we moved from a shared 1960s building (over whose landlords' policies DFID had little direct control) to a newly refurbished building in December 2001. However, energy efficiency was a major factor in the refurbishment specification. Similarly, extensive refurbishment works are currently being carried out in our office at East Kilbride, and the designs for these works have received an "excellent" BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology) rating.
	The Energy White Paper, Our Energy Future—Creating a Low Carbon Economy made clear the importance the Government attaches to improving energy efficiency in its own estate. This is reflected in several targets. There is currently an interim target of a 1 per cent per annum ongoing reduction in weather- corrected carbon emissions, pending the development of new indicators and targets based on benchmarking the performance of each Department's largest buildings.
	In addition, the review of Government procurement has identified areas where procurement could reinforce the achievement of these targets, and arrangements are being made centrally for Departments to purchase goods with high energy efficiency standards and which provide good value for money.
	On the purchase of renewable electricity, Ministers agreed the following target in May 2001: All departments will ensure that by 31 March 2003, at least 5 per cent. of their electricity comes from renewable sources that are exempt from the Climate Change Levy or from self generation, provided this does not entail excessive cost. This will rise to at least 10 per cent supply from such sources by 31 March 2008, but will be reviewed after 31 March 2003 to take account of market conditions following the introduction of the renewables obligation. The review of 2003 will include consideration of increasing or bringing forward the target. DFID has already more than achieved this target, as in July 2002 the London office changed its electricity supplier, resulting in a 100 per cent renewable supply for a lower unit charge (3.824p compared to 4.402p previously for a non-renewable supply).
	Energy saving has therefore been an integral part of the Department's refurbishment/ relocation programme. We are also on track with the development of our Environmental Management Strategy (EMS) in line with Central Government Sustainable Development policies and targets, and this will address the issue of Energy Management.
	There are no agencies or non-departmental public bodies for which DFID is responsible.

External Reports

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list (a) the title and subject, (b) the total cost to her Department and (c) the commissioned author or organisation of each external report commissioned by her Department in each year since 1997.

Clare Short: DFID Departments and overseas offices commission a range of reports and research from external organisations on a variety of subjects related to poverty reduction. Details of these reports are not held centrally and a breakdown of such outputs could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Palestine

Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what further action she is taking to tackle (a) infant mortality, (b) illiteracy and (c) unemployment among the Palestinian people.

Clare Short: We have supported a wide range of initiatives, bilaterally and through our contributions to the EC and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, to meet the needs of Palestinians as the humanitarian situation has deteriorated. This includes a number of emergency health programmes including midwifery training and women's health development. We also support work aimed at reducing the impact of violence on Palestinian children, as well as supplementary educational materials for children unable to attend school full time due to closures and curfews. Our work with the World bank and UNRWA helps fund employment generation schemes.

Palestine

Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions she has had with the (a) World Bank and (b) United Nations about the situation in the West Bank and Gaza; and if she will make a statement.

Clare Short: We maintain very close contact with both the World Bank and the United Nations on the West Bank and Gaza Strip. I discussed the Palestinian situation with both UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and World Bank President Wolfenson in New York and Washington last month. The World Bank and the United Nations Special Co-ordinator's Office play a key role in analysing the social and economic impact of the current conflict. We work closely with them on these issues, and jointly finance a number of specific initiatives. Our relations with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees are strong. Its mandate to provide education, health and emergency services to the refugee population remains critical in these troubled times.

Palestine

Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions she has had with the EU about the situation in the West Bank and Gaza; and if she will make a statement.

Clare Short: We maintain close contact with our European partners and with the European Commission. I have spoken recently to Commissioner Patten about the humanitarian situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. We discussed the importance of support to Palestinian reform efforts, and implementation of the Roadmap towards a two state solution. The appalling humanitarian situation can only be resolved through a just political settlement. The EC shares our view of the need to balance immediate humanitarian assistance with longer-term support for institutional development. In the current circumstances it is essential that organisations respond quickly and flexibly to emerging Palestinian needs. I raised this issue with Commissioner Patten in relation to EC assistance.

Part-time Workers

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the impact of the Part-time Workers Directive on staff in her Department.

Clare Short: No formal assessment has been made—nor has there been any need for one. DFID employment practices were already compliant with the Part-time Workers Directive and the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 in advance of their introduction. Other than a minor technical adjustment to the formula used to calculate hourly remuneration rates there have been no substantial consequences for DFID. DFID supports work/life balance for staff and part time working is only one of several ways in which we offer staff flexibility in their working patterns. 7 per cent. of DFID's UK based staff work part-time.

Sickness Absence

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many staff in her Department were on long term sick leave in each of the last five years.

Clare Short: There is no central definition of long term sick absence. DFID classifies sick absence of three months or more as long term.
	The number of staff on long term sick absence for the period 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2003 was as follows:
	1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002: 39
	1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003: 39
	Details of staff on long term sick absence prior to this period could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	DFID is working towards a reduction of 23.8 per cent. in sick absence rates from 8.4 days per staff year in 1998 to 6.4 in 2003.

World Food Programme

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement in response to the comments made by the Executive Director of the World Food Programme to the United Nations Security Council on 7 April.

Clare Short: I agree with the assessment of James Morris that conditions in many parts of Africa are a cause of great concern and must not be overlooked at a time when the world's attention is on Iraq. I welcome the efforts of the World Food Programme to address urgent humanitarian need in the continent and elsewhere. In 2002, the UK gave over £60 million to WFP, principally for humanitarian operations. We will continue to be strong supporters of the Programme.
	However, the Government puts different emphasis on some of causes of the crises and on the steps needed to address them. An adequate donor response is of course important. I made special efforts last year to encourage other donors to respond to the urgent needs in Southern Africa. But we must go beyond investments in food aid and agriculture. In Southern Africa, the main problem is Zimbabwe and the central issue is one of governance. As Mr. Morris recognises, in other parts of Africa, continuing conflict drastically hampers opportunities to reduce hunger and poverty. We need to take account of the wide range of factors affecting food security in Africa andencourage steps, including by African governments themselves, to address the social, political and economic constraints.
	I talk regularly to James Morris about problems in Africa, most recently in London on 31 March. We will continue to keep in close touch. We will also give full consideration to the proposals set out in Mr. Morris's statement for actions by the G8 countries.

PRIME MINISTER

Athens European Council

Geraint Davies: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the informal European Council in Athens on 16 April.

Tony Blair: I attended the Informal European Council in Athens on 16 April.
	The centrepiece of the meeting was the signature by the member states and the Accession Countries of the Treaty which formalises their membership of the European Union. After ratification in all the countries the new member states will formally join the Union in May next year. In the meantime they will participate as active observers in most of the Union's meetings.
	I expressed my unreserved welcome for enlargement and the contribution which it makes to the democratic stability of Europe and to its prosperity.
	The European Council heard a report from the Chairman of the Convention, President Giscard d'Estaing, on progress so far. The Council reaffirmed its commitment to the successful completion of the Convention by the June meeting of the European Council.
	The European Council took the opportunity to discuss Iraq in the presence of the Secretary General, Kofi Annan. We reaffirmed the view the UN should play a central role in Iraq; that Iraqis should progressively be involved in the management of their country and that the EU would consult on the contribution it could make beyond the humanitarian assistance already being offered.
	I had separate bilateral meetings with the UN Secretary General, with the Irish Prime Minister and the President of the Commission.

TRANSPORT

Railways

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the net cost to the public purse was of expenditure on railways in each year from 1973.

David Jamieson: For each of the 30 years from 1972–73 to 2001–02 the table shows, in columns (1)-(4), total central government support to, and the external finance requirement of, British Rail and, since privatisation, total central government support to the rail industry. In column (5), it shows total rail investment. Columns (1)-(4) are not cumulative with column (5).
	
		£ million
		
			  (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) 
			  Central government support to BR in 1976 Public Expenditure Survey prices Central government support to BR in cash prices External finance requirement (EFR) of BR in cash prices EFR of BR and, since privatisation, central government support to rail industry in cash prices Total rail investment in cash prices 
		
		
			 1972–73 171110 
			 1973–74 251119 
			 1974–75 533147 
			 1975–76 507216 
			 1976–77  457   213 
			 1977–78  479   249 
			 1978–79  494   281 
			 1979–80  641   367 
			 1980–81   790  431 
			 1981–82   960  409 
			 1982–83   848  378 
			 1983–84   811  439 
			 1984–85   1,045  476 
			 1985–86910 550 
			 1986–87777 530 
			 1987–88545 631 
			 1988–89376 695 
			 1989–90711 889 
			 1990–911,077 1,022 
			 1991–921,464 1,293 
			 1992–932,064 1,476 
			 1993–941,461 1,184 
			 1994–951,497 1,250 
			 1995–96231 1,100 
			 1996–97775 1,225 
			 1997–981,454 1,544 
			 1998–991,249 1,999 
			 1999–20001,106 2,248 
			 2000–01931 2,958 
			 2001–021,520 4,070 
		
	
	Source:
	Central government support figures for the years from 1972–73 to 1975–76 are from The Government's Expenditure Plans, Volume II, Cmnd 6721–11, February 1977, Table 2.6. Central government support figures for the years from 1976–77 to 1979–80 are from The Government's Expenditure Plans 1982–83 to 1984–85, Volume II, Cmnd 8494–11, March 1982, Table 2.6. British Rail external finance requirement (EFR) figures for the years from 1980–81 to 1984–85 are from The Government's Expenditure Plans 1986–87 to 1988–89, Volume II, Cmnd 9702–11, January 1986, Table 5.21. EFR and central government support figures for the years from 1985–86 onwards are from National Rail Trends (NRT), Table 5.1. Investment figures are from NRT, Table 5.2.
	Central government support figures for 1994–95, 1995–96 and 1996–97 include privatisation effects.
	These consisted of:
	(a) proceeds from the sales of businesses which (other than those from the sale of Railtrack) were used to reduce the rail industry's overall funding requirement; less
	(b) the external finance contributions (EFCs) lost when businesses were sold. A business's EFC represented the excess of its income from revenue and grant over its costs. Each time a business was sold, its EFC was lost to the public sector and BR's overall external finance requirement adjusted accordingly.
	Investment figures for 1993–94 onwards include investment by the private sector.

Air Safety

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what action was taken as a result of the Civil Aviation Authority Airworthiness Notice No. 19 of 1992;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the availability of counterfeit aircraft spare parts in (a) the UK, (b) the EU and (c) countries with airlines using UK airports.

David Jamieson: Control systems to prevent the use of unapproved aircraft parts by the aviation industry have been in place in the UK for over 30 years. Parts and components are not fitted to UK registered aircraft unless the certifying engineer releasing the aircraft to service is completely satisfied that the parts comply with CAA requirements and those of the aircraft manufacturer. In addition, all UK registered commercial aircraft are subject to regular airworthiness inspections and the CAA carries out systematic audits and ad hoc inspections of UK operators and aircraft maintenance organisations. The UK has no jurisdiction over the availability of counterfeit parts in other countries, responsibility for which rests with the State concerned.
	Airworthiness Notice 19 is an advisory notice to operators and maintenance organisations reminding them of the need to remain vigilant in the detection of bogus aircraft parts. It is reviewed and updated to reflect current knowledge on the issue of unauthorised or bogus parts. Notice 19 also reminds operators and maintenance organisations that any unauthorised parts must be reported to the CAA.

Departmental Annual Report

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the annual report of the Department will be published.

David Jamieson: The spring 2003 Departmental Reports are to be published between 28 April and 16 May 2003. We will publish our Departmental report within this period.

Energy Efficiency

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement, in relation to his Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which his Department is responsible, on (a) the amount of energy consumed, (b) spending on (i) energy and (ii) energy efficiency measures, (c) the amount saved through energy efficiency measures and (d) energy policy in each of the last five years.

David Jamieson: The Department for Transport was formed in May 2002 and as a result of changes to the departmental buildings portfolio there are not five years of records covering the information requested. As the Department has been in existence for less than a year, there have been no specific annual energy reports produced to date.

Freight Facilities Grants

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of additional lorry journeys each day since the suspension of (a) freight facility grants and (b) track access charges;
	(2)  when he expects (a) rail freight facility grants and (b) track access grants to be reinstated.

David Jamieson: No assessment has been made of the effect of the suspension of freight grants on the number of lorry journeys. Expenditure on freight grants is expected to be in the order of £40 million in both 2003–04 and 2004–05. The SRA is keeping the position under review.

Part-time Workers

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the impact of the Part-time Workers Directive on staff in his Department.

David Jamieson: My Department is committed to providing appropriate Work Life Balance for staff and part-time working is one of several ways in which staff are afforded flexibility in their working patterns. Approximately 8 per cent. of staff in the Central Department work on a part-time basis.
	The Part-time Workers (Prevention of less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 have re-inforced the policies applying in my Department of providing equality of treatment regardless of working patterns. The Department supports a network for alternative workers, including part-timers.

Regions White Paper

Joyce Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress his Department has made towards the aim in the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice, of assessing the balance of staff between the centre and the regions in terms of effective policy design and implementation; and what examples there have been since the publication of the White Paper of the Department deciding between locating new streams of work (a) in and (b) outside London and the south east.

John Spellar: My Department keeps under review the balance of resources between the centre and the regions in ensuring the most effective arrangements for the development and implementation of policy. Across the Department and its Agencies as a whole about 75 per cent. of staff are already based outside the south east.
	From January 2001 the Highways Agency began transferring functions from London to its regional offices in Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Bristol, Bedford and Dorking. This strategy is an integral part of the Agency's Change Management Programme for improved business performance, and delivery of its 10-year plan. By May 2003, 235 Highways Agency jobs will have been transferred from London to regional locations, in addition to new agency jobs created in the regions as a result of the Roads Programme and other business expansion.
	The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the Budget plans to examine relocation of public services with the aim of achieving best value for money. He has asked Sir Michael Lyons—Director of the Institute of Local Government Studies at Birmingham University—to advise on relocation by the next Spending Review.

TREASURY

Public Liability Insurance

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the change has been in average UK public liability insurance premium costs in each year since 1992.

Ruth Kelly: We do not collect regular information on average UK public liability insurance premium costs.

Exhibitions

Tim Yeo: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list events at which his Department and each agency and non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible have exhibited in each of the past three years, stating for each (a) the purpose of exhibiting, (b) the cost of exhibiting and (c) the number of staff attending for the exhibition.

Ruth Kelly: The information in respect of HM Treasury, the Inland Revenue and the UK Debt Management Office would only be available at disproportionate cost.
	The information requested for the rest of the Chancellor's departments, agencies and non-departmental public bodies has been placed in the Library of the House.

Media Advertising

Michael Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the level of spending on media advertising by his Department was each month since June 1997 through (a) radio, (b) newspapers, (c) magazines, (d) television and (e) new media and the internet.

Ruth Kelly: The breakdown of HMT advertising costs by month is unavailable.

Part-time Workers

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of the Part-time Workers Directive on staff in his Department.

Ruth Kelly: The Treasury complies with the requirements of the Part-time Workers Directive. Part-time workers in the Treasury are treated in the same way in their contractual terms and conditions as comparable full-timers. There are 60 staff across all grades who currently work either part-time or have job shares. The Treasury has a number of practical policies in place to recognise the importance of having a work life balance. In addition to working part-time and job shares, the Department encourages other alternative working patterns such as term-time working, homeworking and working flexible hours.

Productivity

Michael Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the level of labour productivity in (a) the private sector and (b) the public sector was in each quarter of each year since 1997.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from L. Cook to Mr. Michael Howard, dated 28 April 2003
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question on the level of labour productivity for the private and public sectors. (108465)
	The Office for National Statistics publishes indices of labour productivity data, but these are not available split between public and private sectors.

Property Portfolio

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the estimated value is of the property portfolio held by his Department.

Ruth Kelly: The estimated value of the property portfolio of the Treasury and its Agencies at 31 March 2003 is £108,495,000.

Unemployment Statistics

Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate, on the basis of the current labour force survey panel data, how many people of working age have been out of paid employment for at least four consecutive quarters.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from L. Cook to Mr. Steve Webb, dated 24 April 2003
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about people who have not been in paid employment for at least four successive quarters. (109060)
	Labour Force Survey records for the four quarters up to September to November 2002, show an estimated 7.2 million people of working age who were out of paid employment in each of the four successive quarters. This estimate includes people who had never had a paid job and those who were not seeking work, as well as those who were seeking work.

Working Hours

Tim Yeo: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what policy on (a) core hours and (b) flexible working hours is operated by his Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which his Department is responsible.

Ruth Kelly: HM Treasury
	The Treasury has one location in London. For people working full time the contracted working week including meal breaks is 41 hours. A five day working week is, wherever practicable, the standard arrangement throughout the Department.There is no standard departmental core hours or flexible working hours scheme. All such schemes are set up on a Team basis by agreement between the Team Leader, line managers and members of staff. Hours are recorded using a working hours spreadsheet. The Department encourages alternative working patterns including part-time/term-time working and job sharing and homeworking.
	Inland Revenue
	For people working full time the contracted working week—including meal breaks—is 41 hours in London or 42 hours elsewhere. These hours are normally worked over a five-day week. Generally, including an hour for lunch, the standard daily hours in London are 08.45 to 17.00 from Monday to Thursday and 08.30 to 16.30 on Friday. Elsewhere they are 08.30 to 17.00 Monday to Thursday and 08.30 to 16.30 on Friday. The standard daily hours can vary between different offices.
	Most people in the grades Administrative Assistant through to Senior Executive Officer can choose to work flexible working hours (FWH), and in practice the vast majority do. There is a national FWH framework that has been agreed with theunions—it has been updated and expanded very recently. Local office schemes are
	drawn from the national framework.
	Broadly FWH offers people a range of different working patterns. They can take up to three-days' "flexi-leave" in an accounting period (usually four weeks). And there are rules to prevent people building up too large a deficit of hours.
	Inland Revenue policy is to offer FWH to as many people as possible but always subject to the requirement to balance the needs of staff to achieve an appropriate work/life balance with everybody's responsibility to meet business and service requirements. So the FWH provisions of particular schemes will differ, because they will be determined by local business need. HM Customs and Excise
	Staff work 41 hours, including lunch breaks, in London and 42 hours including lunch breaks, elsewhere, with the attendance pattern being dictated by the needs of the work at a particular location. Within these attendance patterns, the Department operates various attendance schemes which enable staff to balance their work and domestic lives, and this supports the Department's policy of achieving a diverse workforce.
	These attendance schemes include part-time/term-time working and job sharing; home-working and flexible working hours (FWH). Under FWH, staff have a core time of attendance which is locally agreed between management and unions, typically 10.00 to 15.30. Staff have a reasonable degree of freedom over their meal break within the core time, and over their starting and finishing times outside the core time.
	Some of the Department's attendance patterns that are driven by the needs of the work still allow staff a considerable degree of flexibility in the way in which their working lives are arranged.
	The Valuation Office Agency
	All staff should attend between the hours of 10.00 to 12.00 and 14.00 to 16.00. Staff can work between 7.00 and 19.00 (subject to the opening hours of individual buildings). They must take a minimum of half an hour for lunch. They must be at work during the core hours.
	Staff can carry forward or go into debit to a maximum of 18 hours over a four week accounting period. Credits can be taken as "flexi leave" of up to 2–5 days per four week accounting period.
	Staff are required to record all hours they have worked. Records are checked and audited.
	The Agency is currently piloting new and more flexible ways of working in order to facilitate an enhanced Work Life Balance for staff. As pilots, they are not as yet "Policy", but will inform future policy. These pilots essentially remove the core hours and include "compressed hours".
	The Government Actuary's Department (GAD)
	GAD operates a flexible working hours system. Employees' conditioned hours are seven hours and 12 minutes per day and, including meal breaks, 41 hours per week. Core hours are between 10:00 and 12:00 and between 15:00 and 16:00. Flexible working bands exist for employees to start work at anytime between 08:00 and 10:00 and leave anytime between 16:00 and 18:30. This is recorded on an electronic 'flexi clock' over a four week period. Employees are allowed to take up to two days flexi leave in the relevant period provided they have the relevant amount of credit. Extra time must be worked to reduce any deflicit.
	Debt Management Office (DMO)
	The DMO is a small organisation with approximately 80 specialist staff and operates flexible starting and finishing times where possible taking account of operational requirements, and does not operate formal flexi time or flexi leave arrangements other than for staff transferred in from the National Investment and Loans Office to the DMO last year. The core hours between which staff would normally be required to work are 10.00 and 16.00 hours
	Former NILO staff may at present continue to vary their times of arrival and departure in accordance with their Flexible Working Hours Code of Practice. This provides for a bandwidth between 8.00 to 10.00 for arrival and 15.30 to 18.00 for departure, providing that overall efficiency is maintained and that adequate cover is provided during the working day. A maximum of one-five days accumulated flexi leave may be taken in each four week accounting period.
	Additionally full consideration is given to all requests from the combined NILO/DMO staff for temporary or permanent changes in working arrangements (such as reduced hours, short working week, part time or job share arrangements) because of changing demands in individuals1 personal lives or for such circumstances as religious or cultural observance, caring responsibilities etc.
	The Royal Mint
	The Royal Mint operates a Flexible Working Hours system for many of its administrative staff whereby they must be present during the essential part of the day (core time) but are able to vary within reason, provided meaningful work is available, the hours worked before and after the core times.
	The core times are 09.30–12 noon and 14.00–15.30. The earliest and latest start and finishing times are 0700 and 1800. Staff may carry over each month a debit or credit of up to a day and a half. There is, however, an overriding principle that this flexibility must be achieved without impairing the efficiency of the Department and the service it provides. Staff working in, and directly linked to, the manufacturing processes are not on a flexible working hours system.
	Office of Government Commerce (OGC)
	Standard working hours in OGC are 41 hours per week including a one-hour lunch break each day. Core hours when staff are expected to be at work are from 10.00 to 12.00 and from 14.00 to 16.00.
	OGC have introduced a Flexible Working Hours scheme (FWH) that provides staff, with the agreement of line management to work flexibly within agreed core times. The OGC Flexible Working (FWH) Scheme is based on conditioned hours of 144 hours across a four-week accounting period, for full time staff. Staff who work more than their net conditioned hours in the accounting period are able to carry over a number of credit hours into the next 4-week accounting period. Staff may also carry over a debit into the next period. The scheme aims to provide staff with as much flexibility as possible to allow more scope to accommodate personal and domestic commitments. It also provides flexibility for managers to meet the business needs of OGC.
	Office for National Statistics (ONS)
	ONS allows staff to work flexibly across all its four sites. The current system requires most staff to be in the office in core hours, but in the Southport Office no "core" period exists within the working day.
	Details of the core and flexible hours periods in each working day are set out in the table. In practice people can work flexibly around these hours subject to business need.
	
		
			 ONS site Core hours Flexible hours 
		
		
			 London 10.30–11.30; 15.00–15.30 07.00–19.00 
			 Newport 10.00–12:00; 14:00–15.30 07.30–18.30 
			 Southport N/a 07:00–19:00 
			 Titchfield 10.00–12:00; 14.00–15.30 07:00–19.00 
		
	
	National Savings and Investments (NS&I)
	NS&I operates flexible working practices for all employees. NS&l's core hours are from 9:30–12:00 and 14:00–15:30, which is the period when employees must be on duty. NS&I operates a formal flexible working hours scheme for eligible employees. The set periods of the working day when an employee can decide are 7:45–9:30, 12:00–14:00 and 15:30–17:45.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Broadcasting

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff were employed by the (a) Broadcasting Standards Commission, (b) Independent Television Commission and (c) Radio Authority in each of the last five years; and what the annual budget was in each of those years in each case.

Kim Howells: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Staff numbers Income(£) Expenditure (£) Operating deficit/credit (£) 
		
		
			 ITC 
			 1998 (6)195 18,019,000 18,111,000 -92,000 
			 1999 (6)184 16,882,000 17,099,000 -217,000 
			 2000 (6)187 18,551,000 18,229,000 -322,000 
			 2001 (6)166 17,874,000 18,365,000 -491,000 
			 2002 (6)180 19,138,000 20,091,000 -953,000 
			  
			 BSC 
			 1997–98 23 1,975,331 1,997,529 -22,198 
			 1998–99 23 1,994,248 2,009,892 -15,644 
			 1999–2000 21 1,972,748 1,968,354 4,394 
			 2000–01 21 1,955,897 1,971,509 -15,612 
			 2001–02 20 2,100,812 2,020,488 80,324 
			  
			  Radio Authority   
			 1998 41 3,500,000 3,530,000 -28,000 
			 1999 40 3,950,000 3,940,000 8,000 
			 2000 46 4,140,000 4,150,000 -8,000 
			 2001 48 4,730,000 4,410,000 328,000 
			 2002 47 4,720,000 4,830,000 -119,000 
		
	
	(6) ITC staff numbers not including members of the commission.

Librarians

Michael Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the cost of employing librarians in (a) Worcestershire County Council, (b) Warwickshire County Council, (c) Gloucestershire County Councils, (d) Birmingham, (e) Coventry, (f) Dudley, (g) Sandwell, (h) Solihull, (i) Walsall and (j) Wolverhampton metropolitan district councils.

Richard Caborn: This information is not held centrally. However, the total employee expenditure for the library services quoted can be calculated using the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy's (CIPFA's) Public Library Statistics 2000–01 Actuals volume. The total population for each authority is shown at column 1 and the employee expenditure per thousand population figure is at column 148.
	The House of Commons Library has a copy of the above publication which is the latest available in this series.

National Sports Day

Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will fund and support a National Sports Day to encourage young people to try sport or exercise.

Richard Caborn: We encourage as many schools as possible to have a sports day as part of an overall package of PE and school sport activities.

Part-time Workers

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the impact of the Part-time Workers Directive on staff in her Department.

Kim Howells: The Department supports a range of flexible working options aimed at helping staff to achieve a better work/life balance including part-time working, job-share, compressed hours, term-time working, home-working and flexible working. Currently, 6 per cent. of the total number of staff at the Department work part-time. Part-time workers have the same developmental opportunities as staff that work full time.

Regions White Paper

Joyce Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made by the Department towards the aim in the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice, of encouraging applicants to public bodies from all parts of England; and what change there has been in the geographical diversity of appointees to NDPBs and other public bodies sponsored by the Department since the publication of the White Paper.

Richard Caborn: DCMS undertakes a variety of activities to encourage a wider diversity of applicants for public appointments, including those from all parts of England. This includes advertising in the national press, articles in selected publications, advertising of all vacancies on our own website (www.culture.gov.uk), the new public appointments website (www.publicappts- vacs.gov.uk) and the Just Do Something site (www.justdosomething.net) run by Common Purpose. We also participated in the regional public appointments seminars organised by the Women and Equality Unit during 2002.
	There has been little change in the geographical profile of people appointed to DCMS public bodies since the publication of Your Region, Your Choice in May last year. However, recent restructuring of several of our strategic bodies supports the aim set out in the White Paper to reflect the needs of individual regions in developing national policies and programmes. For example, we have created regional representation on Arts Council England and Sport England through the appointment of regional Board Chairs to their Councils, and recognised the role of Regional Development Agencies in restructuring support for tourism.

Sports Facilities

Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 1 April 2003, Official Report, column 665W, on sports facilities, how many community sports coaches will be based in (a) the London Borough of Harrow and (b) other London boroughs; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: Decisions on the locations of the first phase of Community Sports Coaches will not be made until the autumn.

Summer Schools

Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the (a) summer schools and (b) performance camps which will be based in the London borough of Harrow over the next 12 months.

Richard Caborn: There is a wide variety range of summer school and performance camp activity planned for the London borough of Harrow in the next year.
	Sport England's Active Sports Programme will deliver activities across an increasing range of sports in the area. More details on these are set out in the table.
	Arts Council England will also be funding summer school activity in the Borough. This will include a four-week summer school at Arts Culture, Harrow, providing a wide range of arts and crafts sessions for pre-school children to 16-year olds. The organisation is also running two weeks of participatory musical theatre courses for children of all ages and Tomorrow's Warriors, a local information, co-ordination and advisory resource centre for promoters, musicians, and arts organisations, which is currently developing plans for a series of 'jam' sessions for local young people over the summer.
	Harrow will also be covered by the new holiday activities programme jointly developed by DCMS and others across Government. Building on the success of last year's summer activities schemes, the new programme will, through a 'single pot', provide funding for positive activities for children and young people aged 8–19 during all school holiday periods. While the scheme is due to go live in the Whitsun break, delivery plans for this are still in development, so it is not possible to say at this stage what provision there will be in Harrow.
	
		Active Sports Programme Activity Planned for 2003–04 in Harrow
		
			 Sports December 2001 to December 2002 (Phase 1 sports) December 2002 to December 2003 (Phase 2 and 3 sports) 
		
		
			 Athletics (P2)  No activity until December 2003–04Coach Education Programme available for Borough Coaches 
			 Basketball (P1) Come and Try It Sessions =16 boys attendedCoaching Course = 25 boys and girls attendedDistrict Camps for boys and girlsClubs: London Lords and London UnitedCoach Education Programme Come and Try It Sessions2 x Mixed Coaching CoursesDistrict Camps for boys and girlsClubs: London UnitedCoach Education Programme  
			 Cricket (P1) 1 x Mixed U12 24 Week Coaching Sessions = 20 players attendedDistrict Tournaments (Talent Identification process)Clubs: Bessborough CC and Headstone Manor CCCoach Education Programme 1 x Mixed U12 24 Week Coaching SessionsDistrict Tournaments (Talent Identification process)Clubs: Bessborough CC and Headstone Manor CCCoach Education Programme 
			 Girls Football (P1) Coach Education programme available to Borough Coaches 2 x Local Coaching Course1 x Schools Competition1 x Development Squad CentreClubs: Harrow FC and Northwood FCCoach Education Programme 
			 Hockey (P3) — No Activity in December 2002 to December 2003Coach Education Programme available for Borough Coaches 
			 Netball (P2) — Coaching sessionsCoach Education ProgrammeBreezers' Netball Club 
			 Rugby League (P3) — No activity in December 2002 to December 2003Coach Education Programme available for Borough Coaches 
			 Rugby Union (P1) Schools Involved with Activity: Pinner Park, St Georges, Pinner Wood, Priesthood, St Johns CofE, Vaughan, St Theresa's RC, Pinner Park, St Bernadette's RC = 90 playersCoach Education Programme Schools Coaching ProgrammeHarrow RFCCoach Education Programme 
			 Swimming (P2) — Three Festivals and five CampsCoach Education ProgrammeClubs: Harrow and Wealdstone (and Survive and Save, Harrow Scout and Guide) 
			 Tennis (P2) — No Activity in December 2002 to December 2003Coach Education Programme available for Borough Coaches

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Environmental Liability Insurance

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research she has commissioned into the environmental benefits of compulsory environmental liability insurance

Alun Michael: The Department, in consultation with business generally, the insurance industry, and other relevant Government Departments, undertook a detailed assessment of the implications of compulsory financial security, which has emerged in the course of the Council negotiation on the European Commission's draft Directive on Environmental Liability. The Commission's proposal was merely for Member States to encourage operators to use appropriate insurance or other forms of financial security. The need to have financial cover could impose disciplines on operators to improve their operations in order to minimise the risks of environment damage. The assessment suggests that the environmental benefits, which were evaluated in the Department's Extended Partial Regulatory Impact Assessment (COM(02)17), could be substantially lower than the costs.

Environmental Liability Insurance

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research she has commissioned into the impact compulsory environmental liability insurance may have on British businesses; and if she will make a statement

Alun Michael: The Department, in consultation with business generally, the insurance industry, and other relevant Government Departments, undertook a detailed assessment of the implications of compulsory financial security, which has emerged in the course of the Council negotiation on the European Commission's draft Directive on Environmental Liability. The Commission's proposal was merely for Member States to encourage operators to use appropriate insurance or other forms of financial security. The assessment revealed costs to business ranging from £79million (managed funds) to £1.8billion (insurance).

Agri-environment Schemes

Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether her Department's proposed 'broad and shallow' agri-environment scheme will include measures which will help alleviate soil erosion and run-off from the land.

Michael Meacher: The 'broad and shallow' Entry Level Agri-environment Scheme Pilot does include specific measures aimed at improving resource protection and combating soil erosion, such as buffer strips next to watercourses and improved management of high erosion risk cultivated land. The pilot will be used to evaluate whether this approach is successful and if it is, such measures will be incorporated into the main scheme to be rolled out in 2005.

Agriculture and Fisheries Council

Jimmy Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the outcome was of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 8 April; what the Government's stance was on the issues discussed, including its voting record; and if she will make a statement.

Margaret Beckett: My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Commons) and I represented the UK at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 8 April. The Ministers with agriculture and fisheries responsibilities in the Scottish Executive and Welsh Assembly Government were also present.
	The Council held an in-depth debate on the Commission's proposals for decoupling farm aids, cross-compliance, transferring funding from direct subsidies into rural development spending and other cross-cutting measures which form the centrepiece of its proposals for reform of the CAP. I expressed the United Kingdom's broad support for the proposals while calling for greater simplification, reduction of bureaucracy and fairer mechanisms for allocating reductions in direct aids and increases in rural development funding. The Council will return to this dossier at its next meeting with a view to reaching a conclusion in June if possible.
	The Council held a brief debate on the WTO agriculture agreement negotiations in Geneva and endorsed Commissioner Fischler's intention to continue working to secure a balanced package that could enable agreement to be reached at the WTO Ministerial in Mexico in September.
	The Council received progress reports on a Commission proposal to improve hygiene controls on products of animal origin and its proposed new directive on the control of foot and mouth disease. It approved an Italian state aid to assist members of agricultural co-operatives that had become insolvent.
	On fisheries, the Council agreed a Commission proposal to amend the cod recovery measures agreed last December to clarify and correct various points and to make the measures slightly more flexible. The Commissioner also presented a communication aimed at improving the scientific advice available to fisheries managers. Under other business it was announced that, because of the poor state of the cod stock, the Commission would be using emergency powers to close the Baltic cod fishery with effect from 15 April.
	Under other business the Council heard reports on the avian influenza outbreak in the Netherlands, the Commission's plans for carrying forward the French initiative on trade measures to assist sub-Saharan Africa and negotiate on wine agreements with the United States and Canada.

Animal By-Products Regulation

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action she advises under the Animal By-Products Regulation to householders who find a (a) deer, (b) badger and (c) fox carcase in the garden.

Elliot Morley: The carcases, or parts of carcases, of wild animals, including deer, badgers and foxes, will be exempt from the scope of the Regulation unless they are thought to be diseased or are used to produce game trophies. Householders are advised to contact their local authority for advice on appropriate disposal methods.
	However, in some parts of the country (Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire) badgers may be infected with TB. In these areas, householders are advised to contact their local Animal Health Office who may wish to test the carcase for TB.

Animal By-Products Regulation

Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  if she will list the EU countries which (a) have classified shellfish waste as animal waste for the purposes of the Animal By-Products Regulation and (b) have obtained derogations exempting shellfish or fish producers in remote areas from the regulation;
	(2)  when she decided that fish and shellfish waste should be treated as covered by the EU Animal By-Products Regulation; when this decision was communicated to the fish and shellfish processing industries; and if she will list the bodies or companies in those industries who were consulted by the Department on this issue;
	(3)  if she will make transitional provisions to enable shellfish producers to find alternative means to landfill of disposing of shellfish waste after 1May.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 14 April 2003
	Council Directive 90/667/EEC (the Animal Waste Directive) already classifies shellfish and fish waste as an animal by-product and applies to all member States. The Directive will be replaced by Regulation 1774/2002 (the Animal By-Products Regulation) which maintains the same principle. The Sea Fish Industry Authority was consulted during negotiations on the Regulation and a number of other fish and shellfish industries were sent the consultation document of 27 January 2003 on enforcing the Regulation. The consultation document and list of consultees can be found at http://defraweb/corporate/consult/euanimbyprod/conslist.htm. As landfill is not currently a permitted disposal route for most shellfish waste, we have not asked the Commission for a transition period to allow that practice to continue. We do not know whether, or how, other member States intend to apply the derogation permitting the burial or burning of animal by-products in remote areas. However, in the UK it is likely to be limited to parts of the Highlands and the Islands of Scotland.

Animal By-Products Regulation

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  if she will make a statement on the obligations on property owners for the disposal of carcases from their land which are of animals that are (a) wild and (b) owned by another;
	(2)  if she will make a statement on the obligations of property owners for the disposal of animals deceased in their burrows.

Elliot Morley: The carcases, or parts of carcases, of wild animals will be exempt from the scope of the Animal By-Products Regulation unless they are thought to be diseased or are used to produce game trophies. Although the regulation places them under no legal obligation, owners of property on which there are dead wild animals are advised to contact their local authority for advice on appropriate disposal methods.
	However, in some parts of the country, (Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire), badgers may be infected with TB. In these areas, householders are advised to contact their local animal health office who may wish to test the carcase for TB.
	Where an animal carcase is found on private land and ownership of the animal is known, then the owner of the animal will be held responsible and must dispose of the carcase appropriately. However, if ownership cannot be proven, responsibility for disposal rests with the landowner. The local authority, usually Trading Standards, has powers under the statutory nuisance provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to deal with "accumulations or deposits which are prejudicial to health or a nuisance". Appropriate action can subsequently be taken against the owner of the carcase.

Animal By-Products Regulation

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what cost-benefit assessment she has undertaken on the new arrangements for farm carcase disposal; and if she will deposit it in the Library;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of costs incurred by industry from new measures for the disposal of carcases; what additional financial assistance will be made available; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: A regulatory impact assessment has been prepared as part of the consultation procedures for implementation of the Animal By-Products Regulation, of which the ban on on-farm burial of fallen stock forms a part. The costs for any individual farmers will depend on the location of the farm and the kind of stock kept.
	Copies of the assessment will be deposited in the Library. In addition, these documents are available on the Defra website at the following address: http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/euanimbyprod/index.htm
	No funds have been made to the livestock industry to help them meet the costs of complying with the EU Animal By-Products Regulation. However, Government are willing to contribute to the establishment of a national fallen stock collection scheme provided that part of the costs are met by farmers themselves. We will shortly be writing to all livestock farmers to invite them to join a voluntary subscription scheme to help finance a national fallen stock collection system. If there is sufficient interest, we will take this forward in partnership with the collection and disposal industries. Government will contribute to the funding, but the amount cannot yet be determined, as it will be linked to membership.

Animal By-Products Regulation

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  if she will make a statement on the (a) estimated current and (b) future levels of fly-tipping of animal carcasses with reference to new regulations on carcass disposal; what powers there are to discourage such; what additional powers are planned; and what assessment of increased risk to health from a consequential increase in such activity has been made;
	(2)  whether she has undertaken a health assessment of the impact of fallen stock lying in water; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: Local authorities will enforce the EU Animal By-Products Regulation. The local authority, usually Trading Standards, has powers under the statutory nuisance provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to deal with "accumulations or deposits which are prejudicial to health or a nuisance". Appropriate action can subsequently be taken against the owner of the carcase. Animal by-products legislation already controls the collection, storage, transportation and disposal of animal by-products, including fallen stock. It also requires records to be kept of any off-site consignment of animal by-products to assist in the auditing and traceability of this material. In addition, there will be a record keeping requirement to ensure that all animals which die on-farm are accounted for and disposed of through permitted routes.
	The Department does not have information on either current or future levels of animal carcase fly-tipping. To obtain this information would involve my Department in disproportionate costs.
	No formal health assessments have been undertaken by my Department on the disposal of fallen stock after the Regulation comes into effect. However, the Regulation is based on a number of opinions from the EU Scientific Steering Committee (SSC). Among other things, the Committee advised that the routine burial of animals should be prohibited except in exceptional circumstances (e.g. in remote areas and emergency situations).

Bovine Tuberculosis

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what efforts her Department is making to test cattle for bovine TB in those areas which have been restocked following the end of the foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001.

Elliot Morley: Newly formed cattle herds and premises restocked after a herd slaughter require, as a rule, one whole-herd TB test three to six months after restocking. To manage the increased risk of introducing TB through movements of infected cattle into re-formed herds, DEFRA has instigated a programme of frequent testing of premises restocked after the foot and mouth outbreak. In addition to the usual check test carried three to six months post-restocking, those premises now require two further check tests at 12-month intervals before reverting to the normal testing interval for their parish.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what livestock movement restrictions apply to farms where (a) there has been a recent bovine TB reactor and (b) the farm is overdue for a bovine TB test.

Elliot Morley: Cattle which react to the TB test are removed for slaughter, and the herd is placed under movement restrictions until all the eligible cattle have cleared two further short interval tests (60 days).
	Movements of cattle to and from herds with unknown disease status constitute a disease risk. Historically, herds with overdue TB tests have not automatically been put under movement restrictions. After the TB testing programme was suspended during the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001, there was a backlog of 27,000 overdue tests at the end of December 2001. On 31 January 2002, after veterinary risk assessment, herds considered most at risk of infection were put under movement restrictions. On 1 February 2003, as part of the 'autumn package' of measures for the control of bovine TB, herds with tests overdue by more than 12 months were put under movement restriction. From 1 April 2003, herds with tests overdue by more than six months were also placed under movement restriction. Herds with a TB test overdue by three months or more will be put under movement restriction from 30 September 2003.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her Department's latest estimate is of the number of (a) late bovine TB reactor tests and (b) bovine TB reactor cattle which were not collected within the Department's target collection time in each of the last 12 months for which records are available.

Elliot Morley: The information requested is given in the tables.
	
		Table (a) number of overdue TB tests for GB -- March 2002-February 2003
		
			  Total number of TB herd tests overdue(7) 
		
		
			 March 2002 25,285 
			 April 2002 22,546 
			 May 2002 20,030 
			 June 2002 18,037 
			 July 2002 16,960 
			 August 2002 15,576 
			 September 2002 14,921 
			 October 2002 12,177 
			 November 2002 9,852 
			 December 2002 6,283 
			 January 2003 6,720 
			 February 2003 6,139 
		
	
	(7) Provisional data. Subject to change as information is added to the VETNET system.
	
		Table (b) the number and percentage of TB reactors not collected from farms in England and Wales within 10 working days of disclosure: January-December 2002(8)
		
			  TB reactors not collected within 10 working days of disclosure 
			  Number Percentage 
		
		
			 January 2002 759 60 
			 February 2002 1,191 76 
			 March 2002 1,201 76 
			 April 2002 1,387 76 
			 May 2002 1,413 79 
			 June 2002 893 69 
			 July 2002 1,435 74 
			 August 2002 959 76 
			 September 2002 1,299 76 
			 October 2002 1,275 74 
			 November 2002 1,277 68 
			 December 2002 1,303 77 
		
	
	(8) TB reactor removal data for 2003 incomplete.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what animal welfare standards have been set by (a) her Department and (b) Professor John Bourne's scientific committee overseeing the Krebs field trials on bovine TB.

Elliot Morley: In designing and conducting the randomised badger culling trial (the "Krebs" trial), MAFF (now DEFRA) and the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB have given a high priority to animal welfare issues. Snares and gassing are not used in the trial. Badgers are caught in cage traps, and shot at close range by personnel trained in the safe and humane use of firearms, specifically in relation to badgers. Traps are set as late as possible in the day, and checked as early as possible next morning, to minimise the time badgers spend in traps. Trial procedures require that trapping be suspended if, due to bad weather, there is a risk that cage traps could be flooded or that trapped badgers would suffer from extreme exposure. Both temperature and wind chill must be taken into account. Seven day weather forecasts are used in the planning of trapping operations. Badgers are not culled between 1 February and 30 April (the closed season) each year to minimise the risk of capturing lactating sows with dependent cubs below ground.
	The humaneness of despatch procedures has been subject to independent audit which found trial procedures to be humane. The audit report is published on DEFRA's website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/publications/auditor/report.shtml

Bovine Tuberculosis

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans her Department has to alter the regularity of on farm bovine TB tests.

Elliot Morley: Officials are drawing up a range of policy options for possible introduction later this year. Among the measures to be considered are a review of test frequencies to ensure compliance with EU regulations, and a review to identify whether test frequencies above the EU requirements are needed in certain areas.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress her Department has made in identifying a vaccine to assist in the control of bovine tuberculosis.

Elliot Morley: Defra is funding research at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA), Weybridge to produce candidate vaccines and to evaluate these in host species. The candidates include a range of live attenuated vaccines and sub-unit vaccines. Defra is also funding experimental vaccination of cattle with BCG and other vaccine candidates, development of a test to differentiate vaccinated animals from infected animals, and development and testing of vaccines against TB in badgers, in collaboration with University College, Dublin.
	The sequencing of the genome of Mycobacterium bovis (announced by Defra in March 2002) represents significant progress in vaccine research, as all genes, proteins, enzymes and antigens present in M. bovis are likely to be identified rapidly in a highly cost-effective manner. This will underpin all future Defra bovine TB research in the development of vaccines and improved diagnostic tests. Defra is funding research at the VLA in this area.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions her Department has had with (a) scientists undertaking research and development and (b) pharmaceutical companies regarding the timetable for developing a vaccine for the control of bovine TB within the last 12 months.

Elliot Morley: Over the past 12 months Defra has maintained close links with its vaccine research contractors through regular contact by officials and via the independent TB Vaccine Programme Advisor, the late Dr. Jo Colston.
	The Vaccine Scoping Study Sub-Committee (VSSSC) of the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB (ISG) includes both (a) research scientists and (b) representation from the pharmaceutical industry. The Sub-Committee has met seven times over the last year and members have had discussions with researchers from Ireland and New Zealand about TB vaccination research being carried out in their countries. The VSSSC is expected to report to Ministers in late spring 2003 on the feasibility of pursuing a vaccination strategy for cattle and wildlife.
	The Chief Veterinary Officer's Vaccine Steering Group, set up to identify the administrative and legal processes required to enable a vaccine to be used with minimum delay, met twice in 2002. It will meet again in early summer to consider the VSSSC report.
	The ISG has cautioned that a TB vaccine is a potential policy option only in the longer term.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate her Department has made of the (a) earliest possible and (b) optimum time for the practical introduction of a vaccine to control the spread of bovine TB.

Elliot Morley: The Independent Scientific Group on Cattle (ISO) set up a Vaccine Scoping Study Sub-Committee in January 2002 to assist in advising DEFRA Ministers on the feasibility of pursuing TB vaccination in either cattle or wildlife. Seven meetings of the Sub-Committee have taken place and its report to Ministers is expected soon.
	The Chief Veterinary Officer initiated an Interdepartmental Committee in May 2000 to consider in advance the administrative and legal approval processes that would be necessary to allow a vaccine to be put into use with a minimum of delay, presuming that the research projects are successful and a suitable vaccine becomes available. The Committee met twice in 2002 and will meet again in the late spring/early summer to consider the ISG Scoping Study Report.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate her Department has made of how many doses of vaccine would be required in each of the first years of a bovine TB control strategy once clinically viable vaccines become available.

Elliot Morley: Defra's extensive bovine TB vaccine research programme is aimed at identifying the most effective vaccine candidates and the most appropriate vaccination programmes to reduce the incidence of bovine TB. Depending on the outcome of this research, it will be necessary to gain approval for the selected vaccine or vaccines to be used in cattle or badgers or other susceptible species.
	At this stage the quantity of vaccine required, or the species it will be most effective to vaccinate, is not known.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what efforts her Department is making to prevent the spread of bovine TB through cattle movement (a) in foot and mouth affected areas which have been restocked since 2001 and (b) other areas.

Elliot Morley: Newly formed cattle herds and premises restocked after a herd slaughter require, as a rule, one whole-herd TB test three to six months after restocking. To manage the increased risk of introducing TB through movements of infected cattle into re-formed herds, Defra has instigated a programme of frequent testing of premises restocked after the foot and mouth outbreak. In addition to the usual check test carried out three to six months post-restocking, those premises now require two further check tests at 12-month intervals before reverting to the normal testing interval for their parish.
	Movements of cattle to and from herds with unknown disease status constitute a disease risk. Historically, herds with overdue TB tests have not automatically been put under movement restrictions. After the TB testing programme was suspended during the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001, there was a backlog of 27,000 overdue tests at the end of December 2001. On 31 January 2002, after veterinary risk assessment, herds considered most at risk of infection were put under movement restrictions. On 1 February 2003, as part of the 'autumn package' of measures for the control of bovine TB, herds with tests overdue by more than 12 months were put under movement restriction. From 1 April 2003, herds with tests overdue by more than six months were also placed under movement restriction. Herds with a TB test overdue by three months or more will be put under movement restriction from 30 September 2003.

BSE

Diana Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the amount of funds from (a) the BSE control and monitoring schemes, (b) the over 30 months scheme casualty collection service and (c) the fallen stock TSE surveillance scheme which would be used for a national scheme for collection and disposal of fallen stock.

Elliot Morley: We are already contributing nearly £30 million annually for the collection and disposal of fallen stock for TSE testing purposes. We envisage utilising, and building on the existing infrastructure to form a wider service which will reduce the costs to the industry.

Climate Change Levy

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in respect of climate change levy agreements, if she will list each of (a) those facilities whose targets set for them in the relevant underlying agreement have been met and for which there is not a tolerance band in the underlying agreement in relation to that target, (b) those facilities whose targets set for them in the relevant underlying agreement have been met and for which there is a tolerance band but the target has been met without needing to take it into account, (c) those facilities whose targets set for them in the relevant underlying agreement have been met, for which there is a tolerance band and the target has only been met by taking account of it and the qualitative requirements set for the facility have been met and (d) those facilities in respect of which such qualitative requirements have been met and the target set for the facility has not been met because of a relevant constraint or requirement which had a major impact on the performance of the facility operator and prevented the target from being achieved.

Michael Meacher: Over 12,000 facilities were recently assessed against the terms of their climate change agreements. A total of 10,608 (88 per cent.) were re-certified for the reduced rate of climate change levy and all of these fall into one of the four categories above. A full list of those that have been re-certified is maintained on the following page of HM Customs and Excise website: www.hmce.gov.uk/business/othertaxes/ccl/red-rate-certs.htm. The number of re-certified facilities falling into the four categories on 31 March is given below.
	(a) 10,153 facilities met targets which did not include a tolerance band;
	(b) 455 facilities met targets which included a tolerance band but it was not taken into account;
	(c) One facility used a tolerance band to meet its target;
	(d) Four facilities made use of the Relevant Constraints procedure to meet their targets.
	In accordance with the terms of the CCAs, the Secretary of State has consulted with sector associations to determine whether they have objections to the disclosure of the information requested about the performance of individual facilities and if so to justify their objections. Unless persuasive and compelling reasons are provided as to why disclosure should not take place, I will publish further information when it becomes available.

Common Agricultural Policy

Diana Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will next meet EU partners to discuss the mid-term review of the Common Agricultural Policy.

Elliot Morley: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will next meet EU partners to discuss reform of the CAP at the Informal Agriculture Council meeting on 12–13 May.

Common Agricultural Policy

Diana Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress she has made with the mid-term review of the Common Agricultural Policy.

Elliot Morley: There have been four separate Agriculture and Fisheries Council discussions of the Commission's proposals for reform of the Common Agricultural Policy since their publication on 22 January. Good progress has also been made on the technical issues in Working Group. We continue to support the Presidency and Commission in seeking a successful conclusion to negotiations in June.

Energy Policy

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement, in relation to her Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which her Department is responsible, on (a) the amount of energy consumed, (b) spending on (i) energy and (ii) energy efficiency measures, (c) the amount saved through energy efficiency measures and (d) energy policy in each of the last five years.

Alun Michael: The table is based on data reported in the "Sustainable Development in Government" annual reports. Data on the Department's agencies and NDPBs are not available.
	
		
			  Energy consumption (GWh/y) Energy expenditure (£M/y) Energy/m2(kWh/m2/y) Saving over 1997–98 (%) Energy efficiency spend (£k/y) 
		
		
			  Defra/MAFF main estate 
			 1997–98 42.46 1.202 240 — 164 
			 1998–99 44.28 1.271 233 3 115 
			 1999–2000 39.70 1.155 206 14 104 
			 2000–01 41.65 1.461 (9)208 13 140 
			 2001–02 52.65 1.780 (10)238 1 (11)31 
			  Defra/MAFF Laboratories 
			 1997–98 94.78 2.011 648 — 177 
			 1998–99 89.64 1.878 605 7 215 
			 1999–2000 93.51 1.880 590 9 117 
			 2000–01 109.14 2.105 (12)701 -8 (11)43 
			 2001–02 117.81 2.172 (10),(12)747 -15 (11)29 
		
	
	(9) Combination of additional air-conditioned buildings brought into Defra estate, and out of hours working, nationally on swine fever and FMD outbreaks.
	(10) FMD outbreaks—additional buildings, staff and long hours working.
	(11) Budget allocations prevented investment in energy saving measures.
	(12) Defra laboratories are energy aware, but work to commercial constraints. Energy use varies with contracts. Year-on-year comparisons not wholly appropriate.
	Notes:
	1. Energy consumption is weather-corrected in the usual manner, using annual degree days relative to the 20-year average for 1990–91. The figures are those reported on for the Central Government Estate campaign, and generally include each Department's main estate plus all agencies, but not NDPBs.
	2. Energy Expenditure: this is actual spend and, from April 2001, includes the climate change levy.
	3. Energy/m2: this variable allows for changes in both weather and estate size on energy consumption. So annual changes will generally reflect efficiency changes.
	4. Savings over 1997–98: These have been expressed as percentage savings relative to the first year quoted here, and are based on the figures in the preceding column.
	5. Energy efficiency spend: Note that this is not necessarily a good measure of an effective energy efficiency policy. For example, when a new building is commissioned or an existing one refurbished, good design can actually reduce capital costs, e.g. by avoiding air conditioning. The costs of an effective energy management team may also not be included.
	The Energy White Paper, "Our Energy Future—Creating a Low Carbon Economy" made clear the importance the Government attaches to improving energy efficiency in its own estate. This is reflected in several targets. There is currently an interim target of a 1 per cent. per annum on-going reduction in weather-corrected carbon emissions, pending the development of new indicators and targets based on benchmarking the performance of each Department's largest buildings. These new targets are planned to be in place later this year. New targets for Government Departments' use of CHP generated electricity will also be established during 2003.
	In addition, the review of Government procurement has identified areas where procurement could reinforce the achievements of these targets, and arrangements are being made centrally for Departments to purchase goods with high energy efficiency standards and which provide good value for money.
	On the purchase of renewable electricity, Ministers agreed the following target in May 2001:
	"All Departments will ensure that by 31 March 2003, at least 5 per cent. of their electricity comes from renewable sources that are exempt from the climate change levy or from self-generation, provided this does not entail excessive cost. This will rise to at least 10 per cent. supply from such sources by 31 March 2008, but will be reviewed after 31 March 2003 to take account of market conditions following the introduction of the renewables obligation. The review of 2003 will include consideration of increasing or bringing forward the target".

Environment Agency (Construction Costs)

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total cost was of construction by the Environment Agency in Somerset and the Wessex area in each of the last three years.

Michael Meacher: The total cost of construction by the Environment Agency in Somerset and the Wessex area in each of the last three years is as follows:
	
		£000
		
			  Somerset Wessex(13) 
		
		
			 2002–03 5,565 9,827 
			 2001–02 4,545 7,723 
			 2000–01 1,179 4,304 
		
	
	(13) This figure includes the total cost of construction for Somerset.
	Flood defence projects account for most of the Agency's construction budget, its water resources function accounts for the remainder. The Agency's Wessex area consists of the three flood defence committees of Bristol Avon; Somerset; and Avon and Dorset.

Fallen Stock

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on progress being made on the implementation of a national fallen stock collection and disposal scheme; what additional monies have been made available for such a scheme; and what guidance on the scheme has been issued to farmers.

Elliot Morley: We will shortly be writing to all livestock farmers to invite them to join a voluntary subscription scheme to help finance a national fallen stock collection system. If there is sufficient interest we will take this forward in partnership with the collection and disposal industries. Government will contribute to the funding, but the amount cannot yet be determined as it will be linked to membership.

Fallen Stock

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate her Department has made of the number of fallen stock in the last year which have been (a) removed by a hunt kennel, (b) buried on farm, (c) removed by the farmer to a rendering plant, (d) removed by contractor to a rendering plant, (e) subject to another form of off-farm disposal and (f) subject to other forms of on-farm disposal.

Elliot Morley: We do not have figures for the amount of fallen stock that were disposed of last year. To obtain this information would involve the Department in disproportionate costs.

Fallen Stock

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment her Department has made of the acceptability of on-farm (a) bio-digestors and (b) incinerators to deal with future fallen stock after 1 May.

Elliot Morley: The bio-digestion of fallen stock is not a permitted disposal route. However, the EU Animal By-Products Regulation may allow for novel disposal methods, such as bio-digestion, to be permitted after consultation of the appropriate scientific committee.
	The EU Commission has received a number of applications for approval of alternative processes and has sought an opinion from the Scientific Steering Committee. To assist the assessment the Commission requires any submitted data to cover:
	the identification and characterisation of the risk materials;
	the TSE risk reduction by the particular process;
	the degree of risk containment;
	the identification of interdependent processes; and
	the intended end-use of the product.
	On-farm incineration will continue to be a permitted disposal route for fallen stock, provided it is carried out in accordance with the relevant legislation.

Food Chain (Terrorist Threat)

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department (a) is taking and (b) is taking jointly with other departments to protect (i) farms and (ii) food imports from the threat of terrorist action.

Elliot Morley: There is no information to indicate a specific threat to the agriculture or food industry in the UK, but if such a threat should arise then specific advice targeted to the nature of the threat will be provided. The Home Office terrorism website (www.homeoffice.gov.uk/terrorism/index.html) currently contains general advice to the public and this will be updated and changed in accordance with the perceived threat. The Home Office publication "Bombs Protecting People and Property" also provides counter-terrorist security advice, specifically aimed at managers of businesses and organisations large or small and to local government. More specific advice and guidance is available from local police forces.
	In addition, with the agreement of other departments, the Food Standards Agency reminded the food industry in November 2002 of the importance of maintaining vigilance against potential malicious attacks on the food supply. This was a general reminder rather than a response to any new intelligence suggesting a specific threat. This advice remains current.
	Defra at official and ministerial level, take a full and active part in the work in central government to improve contingency planning and seek to involve all our stakeholders, in Government, agencies and industries, in the process. This latter point is vital to achieving an improved response to any emergency:
	the Civil Contingencies Committee (CCC) chaired by the Home Secretary and dealing with civil contingencies matters (membership and terms of reference can be found on the Cabinet Office Website: www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/cabsec/2003/cabcom/ccc.htm)
	the Defence and Overseas Policy Sub-Committee chaired by the Home Secretary and dealing with Protective and Preventative Security (DOP(IT)(T)) (membership and terms of reference can be found on the Cabinet Office Website: www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/cabsec/2003/cabcom/dopjtt.htm)
	the Defence and Overseas Policy Sub-Committee chaired by the Home Secretary and dealing with consequence management and resilience (DOP(lT)(R)) (membership and terms of reference can be found on the Cabinet Office Website: www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/cabsec/2003/cabcom/dopjtr.htm).

Forestry Commission

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of the Forestry Commission's forest and woodlands are certified to FSC equivalent standards; and how much (a) money and (b) time has been spent by her Department on developing and implementing a United Kingdom woodland assurance standard that is equivalent to the FSC.

Elliot Morley: Following an in-depth independent audit lasting several months, all 800,000 hectares of the forest and woodland area managed by the Forestry Commission were certified in 1999 in accordance with the UK Woodland Assurance Standard. The work to develop the Standard, which meets the criteria of the Forest Stewardship Council, was facilitated by the Commission over a period of 11 months, at a staff and overhead cost to the Commission of some £130,000. The audit work cost £145,000.

Johne's Disease

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what strategies she has in place for tackling the spread of Johne's disease in animals; and if she will make a statement.

Margaret Beckett: Defra worked closely with the Food Standards Agency during the production of the FSA's strategy for the control of Mycobacterium avium sub-species paratuberculosis (MAP) in cows' milk a part of which was to assess and validate current methods for detecting MAP infection in cattle, organise a survey of MAP infection in the UK dairy herd and produce guidance for farmers on the control of MAP infection. The guidance is expected to be published shortly and the other two aspects are being taken forward by an expert sub-group of the Chief Veterinary Officer's Surveillance Group on Diseases and Infections of Animals (SGDIA).

Johne's Disease

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research her Department has undertaken into methods of controlling Johne's disease; and if she will make a statement.

Margaret Beckett: The Department is carrying out no specific research into methods of controlling Johne's disease. The former MAFF commissioned the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) to carry out a detailed review of surveillance and control options for Johne's disease in farm animals in Great Britain. The report was published in May 2001 and is available on the Defra website.
	In view of the absence of an established link between Johne's disease in cattle and Crohn's disease in humans, the need for research on Johne's disease was considered against research needs in respect of other non-zoonotic endemic livestock diseases. A number of these diseases are more significant economically or have a greater adverse impact on sustainable development than Johne's disease; priority has therefore been given to research on those diseases.

Johne's Disease

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research her Department has undertaken into the relationship between Microbacterium avium sub-species paratuberculosis and (a) Crohn's and (b) Johne's disease.

Margaret Beckett: Mycobacterium avium sub-species paratuberculosis has been known for many years to be the cause of Johne's disease. With regard to the relationship between Mycobacterium avium sub-species paratuberculosis and Crohn's disease experts differ in their opinion on such a link and worldwide there is no consensus. The Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens has on two occasions (1992 and 1998) concluded that a link could not be established on current evidence. A similar view was reached by the EU Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare.
	The Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food did however, recommend that, given differing views on possible links to human illness, which are unlikely to be resolved in the foreseeable future, the Food Standards Agency should convene an expert group of stakeholders to look at ways to prevent the bacterium from entering the food chain. Consistent with this recommendation Defra's research programme has been directed towards reducing the levels of MAP in milk and milk products.

Magpies

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to prevent the unlawful culling of magpies.

Elliot Morley: The control of certain birds, including magpies, is permitted under a series of general licences issued by my Department. This system, first introduced in 1992, offers a practical and easily understood method of control of certain bird species and ensures that birds are killed or taken by certain methods only, with the minimum of distress to the birds.
	Control of birds under the general licences has generally worked well, however a recent High Court judgment has illustrated that there may be areas where review of the general licences would be useful. Officials will consult stakeholders shortly and revise the licences where changes are considered necessary.
	If persons are aware that the terms and conditions of the licences allowing control of magpies are not being adhered to they should report the matter to their Police Wildlife Liaison Officer attached to their local police force. Persons found guilty of not working in accordance with the licences can face a maximum penalty of £5,000 and or six month custodial sentence. Copies of the general licences can be found on the Defra website.

Mobile Phones

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the estimated percentage was of disposed-of mobile phones that were recycled in 2002.

Michael Meacher: Industry estimate that over 14 per cent. of the mobile phones disposed of in the UK in 2002 were reused or recycled.

National Insurance

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost will be to public funds in 2003–04 of the rise in national insurance contributions on the salary bill of her Department.

Alun Michael: It is estimated that the changes to employers' national insurance contributions announced in the 2002 Budget will increase core-Defra pay costs on average by 0.7 per cent. in 2003–04.

Over Thirty Months Scheme

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the future of the over thirty months scheme.

Elliot Morley: I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement on 9 April, Official Report, column 19WS, concerning payment rates under the over thirty month scheme (OTMS).

Over Thirty Months Scheme

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the per kilogram rate of compensation is in the Over-Thirty-Month scheme for slaughtering cattle; what plans she has to alter this; and what the equivalent rates are in (a) France, (b) Germany and (c) Republic of Ireland.

Elliot Morley: I refer the hon. Member to my Written Ministerial Statement of 9 April, Official Report, column 19WS concerning payment rates under the Over-Thirty-Month-Scheme (OTMS). The current rates set down in Commission Regulation 716/96 are 0.8 euros/kg (£0.55) for cull cows and 0.9 euros/kg (£0.62) for other cattle. The scheme is not operated in France, Germany or the Republic of Ireland.

Press Office

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people are employed in her Department's press office; and how many were employed on 2 May 1997.

Alun Michael: Defra was formed in June 2001. As at 14 April 2003 the staff complement of the press office was 22 press officers and five support staff. Information on the numbers employed in equivalent press office posts in the departments that previously dealt with Defra's policies and activities would not provide an accurate comparison and could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.

Property Portfolio

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the estimated value is of the property portfolio held by her Department.

Alun Michael: As at 1 April 2003, the estimated value, as assessed for capital charging purposes, of the Department's property portfolio, including properties occupied by the Department's Executive Agencies, was £361,244,000.

Rabies

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her Department's policy is on the eradication of wild mammals in the event of an outbreak of rabies.

Elliot Morley: We are currently revising and updating the rabies contingency plans to take account of lessons learned from the foot and mouth disease outbreak and the latest scientific advice. In the event of an outbreak of rabies affecting terrestrial wildlife, targeted destruction of wildlife and vaccination are both potentially available methods of control. As part of the review of the contingency plan, we are looking at the most appropriate control mechanisms in different outbreak scenarios, and the process of decision-making required, taking account of the specific circumstances and location of the outbreak. It is likely that in most circumstances, vaccination would be the preferred approach.
	The draft rabies contingency plan will be issued for consultation in due course.

Racehorses

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether a licence is required for the import or export of semen for the purposes of artificial insemination of competition stallions in (a) Europe, (b) Australia, (c) New Zealand and (d) the USA.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 11 April 2003
	The information is as follows:
	Imports into Great Britain
	Whether import licences are required depends on the date of collection. No import licences are required for semen collected after 1 October 1995 or 1 October 1996 depending on the country. Importers should contact Defra's International Animal Health Division for further information. Import licences are required for semen collected prior to those dates but semen collected prior to 1 October 1996 cannot be imported from New Zealand. Additionally an official export health certificate must be obtained from the veterinary authorities of the exporting country prior to the export taking place.
	Exports from Great Britain
	Exporters must obtain an import licence from the veterinary authorities of Australia and New Zealand to allow the import of equine semen for artificial insemination in competition stallions. Import licences are not required for the USA. EU member states do not require import licences for equine semen collected since 1 October 1995 but individual member states may do so for semen collected prior to that date. Exporters should contact the veterinary authorities of the relevant member state. Additionally, an export health certificate for exports to EU member states, Australia, New Zealand or the USA must be obtained from an Animal Health Divisional Office.
	Further information can be obtained from the International Animal Health Division at 1A Page Street in London on telephone number 020 7904 6331.

Radioactive Materials

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the occasions since 1997 when consignments of radioactive scrap metal have illegally been imported into the UK, indicating in each case what action was taken subsequent to their discovery; and if she will make a statement.

Michael Meacher: holding answer 14 April 2003
	The information is not available. When incidents are discovered, appropriate regulatory action is taken.

Refrigerators

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much funding has been allocated to (a) Suffolk County Council, (b) St. Edmundsbury Borough Council and (c) Mid Suffolk District Council to assist with the costs of storing and processing of disposed refrigerators and freezers; and what plans she has to make further funds available.

Michael Meacher: The information is as follows:
	(a) Suffolk County Council received £430,333 from Special Grant Report 109 to assist with the costs of storing and processing refrigerators and freezers in 2002–03. This was in addition to an allocation from the £6 million provided to Waste Disposal Authorities in England for 1 January to 31 March 2002. Spending Review 2002 included future funding within the Environmental, Protective and Cultural Services block which will be distributed through Formula Standard Shares (FSAs).
	(b) and (c) St. Edmundsbury Borough Council and Mid Suffolk District Council received no additional support as funds have been allocated to Waste Disposal Authorities only.

Sparrows

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the effects of additives present in lead free petrol on the sparrow population.

Elliot Morley: No specific research has been undertaken to assess whether pollution, or the effects of additives in lead free petrol, have had an impact on the house sparrow population.
	However, recent published Defra research identified various potential factors which may have been responsible for the decline of house sparrows in urban situations—air quality and pollution were suggested as having a potential impact.
	A one-day conference will be held later in the year to present the work undertaken so far by my Department and other organisations, to assess where the priorities for research lie and to develop co-ordination of any further work. This conference will raise the profile of the house sparrow and start the process of preparing guidelines on how the average person might improve the number of house sparrows visiting their garden and the wider community.

Thomsen Judgment

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions her Department has had with the European Commission on the recent Thomsen judgment in respect of the management of milk quotas with regard to (a) whether quotas are for the beneficial use of the named holder or the farm holding and (b) whether any beneficial trade in entitlements attaches to the landowner or tenant in the case of rented holdings.

Elliot Morley: None. The discussions that my officials held with the European Commission on the Thomsen judgment concerned the timing of implementation of the judgment.

Veterinary Medicines

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with EU states concerning the mutual recognition of veterinary medicines.

Elliot Morley: The main forum for discussion of issues concerning the mutual recognition of marketing authorisations for veterinary medicinal products is the Veterinary Mutual Recognition Facilitation Group (VMRFG). This meets monthly (except in August) and is attended by my officials and those from the other member states and the European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA). The UK was instrumental in establishing the VMRFG in April 1997. In addition, there are a number of other EU fora at which issues relating to veterinary medicines are discussed and at which issues relating to mutual recognition may be raised.

Veterinary Medicines

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the benefits of combining the Medicine Control Agency with the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, with reference to EU Directive 6565.

Elliot Morley: The Department carried out a Review of its five science-based agencies, including the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), in 2002. It was published on 17 December 2002. Copies of the report are available on: www.defra.gov.uk/agency review/index.asp
	The Review explored a number of possible options on the organisational structure for VMD, including combining the Medicines Control Agency (now the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)) and VMD. Having taken account of the current assessment of business prospects, it concluded that there should be no organisational change for VMD. However, there should be a further reassessment of the option of a merger with MCA once the future role of the European Medicines Evaluation Agency in the EU's approval procedures is known.

Veterinary Medicines

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the cost to British industry of delays in the processing of authorisation applications by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate.

Elliot Morley: European legislation requires member states to process applications for new marketing authorisations for veterinary medicinal products within 210 "clock" days of the submission of a valid application. "Clock days" are calendar days, including weekends and holidays but excluding any period where further information is requested and awaited from the applicant. In addition to this legal requirement, annual performance targets are agreed for the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) which, together with details of how they have been met, are published in the VMD Annual Report and Accounts. The Annual Report for 2001–02 illustrates that, during the period 1999 to 2002, the VMD met its target of determining 100 per cent. of valid applications for new UK marketing authorisations within 210 clock days in each successive year. Furthermore, during each of these years, the VMD has exceeded agreed performance targets of determining or referring to the Veterinary Products Committee (VPC) valid applications for new marketing authorisations within 120 clock days, achieving outturns of 92.2 per cent., 95.9 per cent. and 94 per cent. respectively. For 2002–03, the average time for determining or referring applications for new marketing authorisations to the VPC is 89.1 clock days. Applications are only referred to the VPC where the product is novel or where the VMD considers a marketing authorisation cannot be granted.
	In the light of the VMD's performance in processing applications I do not consider an assessment of the cost to British industry of delays in the procedures to be
	appropriate.

Veterinary Medicines

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact on British industry of disallowing alternative presentations of single products in the marketing authorisation of parent producers by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate.

Elliot Morley: The Veterinary Medicines Directorate ceased to accept applications to include alternative presentations in single marketing authorisations in April 1997. The decision to do so was made to bring UK procedures into line with those of the other member states and procedural guidance produced by the European Commission. It was considered that the practice of allowing alternative presentations on marketing authorisations was not compatible with European harmonised procedures and could be detrimental to holders of UK marketing authorisations who wished to apply to have them recognised in other member states under the mutual recognition procedures. It was further considered that facilitating easier access to the markets in other member states through the mutual recognition procedures would counterbalance any resulting additional costs to British industry.

Water Industry

Andrew Bennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many water companies have not yet reached the targets for leakage agreed at the Water Summit in 1997.

Elliot Morley: Following the Water Summit in 1997, Ofwat set each water company annual leakage targets to progressively reduce leakage to its economic level by 2003. This is defined as the level at which the costs to make further reductions in leakage are greater than the costs of supplying additional water from its sources. Ofwat published details of companies' performance against their targets for 2001–02 in the "Security of supply, leakage and the efficient use of water" report, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. Of the twenty-one companies set targets, two failed to progress in line with their annual target. Ofwat is monitoring the actions taken by these companies to recover their positions. Thames Water was subject to special measures rather than being set a volumetric target in 2001–02, due to its unsatisfactory performance in managing leakage. Ofwat is taking a number of increased measures to ensure that Thames Water brings its leakage under control, including the recent setting of leakage targets for North London, South London and the area outside London. Water company performance against targets for 2002–03 will be published in July this year.

Water Industry

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with the Director General of OFWAT on changing the investment criteria for Thames Water to enable them to invest more in capital infrastructure to alleviate sewage flooding in rural areas.

Elliot Morley: The Department has been working closely with the Office of Water Services to look at ways of tackling the serious problem of sewer flooding. Following a consultation on flooding from sewers last year, OFWAT announced that they would consider proposals from sewerage undertakers for additional schemes to alleviate the most serious problems in the period up to 2005. Thames Water has been given approval for significant additional investment before 2005. All sewerage companies are currently developing proposals for investment to deal with sewer flooding during 2005–10.
	In the Secretary of State's initial guidance on the Periodic Review of water price limits for 2005–10, it was made clear that there should be closer attention to tackling sewer flooding in all areas. This should help to ensure that many more customers than at present benefit from sewer flooding schemes.

Working Hours

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what policy on (a) core hours and (b) flexible working hours is operated by her Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which her Department is responsible.

Alun Michael: Defra is committed to accommodating staff requests to work flexibly subject to the overriding needs of the Department. Flexible working hours are available to staff except where overriding business, operational or management requirements make this inappropriate. Most Defra staff are required to observe core hours (10–12 am and 2–4 pm) although pilot schemes are exploring how greater flexibility could be offered to staff without reducing operational efficiency.
	The position in the Agencies for which Defra is responsible is similar, although the Rural Payments Agency has recently introduced new flexible working arrangements on the basis of daily bands of 7.30 am to 7.30 pm without core hours. Defra sponsors a number of other public sector bodies, including 20 executive NDPBs. Information is not held centrally on their working hours arrangements and could only be obtained as requested at disproportionate cost.

CABINET OFFICE

Advertising Campaigns

Mark Prisk: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what his Department's total spending was on advertising and promotional campaigns between April 2002 and March 2003; and what the cost of each campaign was, broken down by costs relating to (a) television, (b) radio and (c) print media.

Douglas Alexander: Due to the way in which spend on media is held, to provide information as requested would result in disproportionate costs.
	COI will produce expenditure figures for government as a whole when they produce their annual report in a few months' time.

Delivery Plans

Tony Wright: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will publish the delivery plans that the Delivery Unit agrees with departments on the Government's 17 delivery priorities, as referred to by the National Audit Office on page 13 of its report on The Role of Executive Agencies.

Douglas Alexander: Departments are responsible for producing delivery plans for their delivery priorities. It is for individual Departments to decide whether to publish delivery plans.

Departmental Annual Report

John Bercow: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when the annual report of his Department will be published.

Douglas Alexander: The spring 2003 Departmental Reports are to be published between 28 April and 16 May 2003. We will publish our Departmental Report within this window, and are aiming for publication on 16 May.

Employment Relations Act

John Bercow: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many staff in the Cabinet Office have taken time off from work in order to attend to domestic incidents as provided for by the Employment Relations Act 1999.

Douglas Alexander: Time off to attend to domestic incidents is covered by the Cabinet Office's provisions for special leave (paid and unpaid). All special leave applications have to be approved in writing by line management. Records are not held centrally on numbers of staff who take special leave for specific purposes: this information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Parental Leave

John Bercow: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many staff in his Department have used their leave entitlement under the Parental Leave Directive since it came into force.

Douglas Alexander: The Department's provisions for special leave cover time off under the Parental Leave Directive. All special leave applications have to be approved in writing by line management. Records are not held centrally on numbers of staff who take special leave for specific reasons: this information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Press Office

John Bercow: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people are employed in his Department's Press Office; and how many were employed on 2 May 1997.

Douglas Alexander: For the number of press officers employed by the Cabinet Office for years prior to 2002–03 may I refer the hon. Gentleman to my response of 31 January 2003, Official Report, column 1057W.
	The current number of press officers, including the Head of News, employed by the Cabinet Office is 10.5.
	There is one full-time business support officer for the press office. The number of business support staff employed prior to 2002–03 can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Secondments

Vincent Cable: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many individuals have been seconded to his Department from (a) the private sector, (b) NGOs and (c) other, in each case listing (i) from which organisation and (ii) dates of secondments, in 2002–03.

Douglas Alexander: There were 20 individuals seconded to the Cabinet Office in 2002–3. (a) seven individuals were seconded from the Private Sector; (b) eight individuals were seconded from NGOs; and (c) five individuals were seconded from other organisations.
	The organisations and dates of secondments are as follows:
	
		
			 Organisation Dates of secondments 
		
		
			 Accenture September 2002—September 2004 
			 Addenbrooke NHS Trust August 2002—November 2002 
			 Adult Learning Inspectorate November 2002—March 2003 
			 Arthur Andersen June 2002—December 2002 
			 Audit Commission June 2002—August 2003 
			  August 2002—November 2002 
			  September 2002—March 2003 
			  September 2002—September 2003 
			  November 2002—October 2003 
			  February 2003—May 2003 
			 BSkyB February 2003—February 2004 
			 Deloitte & Touche July 2002—January 2003 
			 London borough of Newham July 2002—April 2004 
			 Metropolitan police November 2002—May 2003 
			 MORI Research Institute January 2003—April 2003 
			 North Hertfordshire district council October 2002—March 2003 
			 Privy Council Office, Canada February 2002—September 2003 
			 Skillmind Consultancy October 2002—April 2004 
			 Unilever January 2003—December 2005 
			 University of Bristol July 2002—June 2003

Secondments

Vincent Cable: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many civil servants have been seconded from his Department to (a) the private sector, (b) NGOs and (c) other, broken down by (i) grade of civil servants seconded, (ii) location and (iii) dates of secondments, in each year since 1997–98.

Douglas Alexander: In 1999–2000 there were no secondments from the Cabinet Office.
	In 2000–01 there were two secondments from the Cabinet Office, one to the private sector and one to an 'other' organisation.
	In 2001–02 there were nine secondments from the Cabinet Office, all to 'other' organisations.
	In 2002–03 there were six secondments from the Cabinet Office, five to 'other' organisations and one to the private sector.
	There are no records of secondments from the Cabinet Office to the private sector, NGOs or 'other' organisations prior to March 1999. The following table contains information from April 1999 to March 2003.
	
		
			 Grades Location Dates of secondments 
		
		
			 Year 1999–2000  
			 Nil   
			 Year 2000–01  
			 A Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government November 2000 to October 2001 
			 A Capita January 2000 to January 2001 
			 Year 2001–02  
			 A Rathbones Charity February 2001 to September 2002 
			 A Cathedral and Abbey Church of St. Albans May 2001 to November 2001 
			 A London Borough of Havering May 2001 to July 2002 
			 A Bilateral Exchange scheme Sweden May 2001 to September 2001 
			 A National Trust August 2001 to November 2002 
			 B Fast Stream National Assembly for Wales August 2001 to September 2002 
			 B2 Elizabeth Fitzroy Homes December 2001 to December 2002 
			 B1 Public Admin Unit Rome January 2002 to October 2002 
			 A Austrian Civil Service February 2002 to ? 
			 Year 2002–03  
			 A Hampshire County Council May 2002 to November 2002 
			 B2 Prince of Wales Office July 2002 to July 2003 
			 B Fast Stream European Commission Stagiere Scheme September 2002 to March 2003 
			 A Deloitte Consulting November 2002 to November 2003 
			 B2 Kent Local Authority February 2003 to ? 
			 A YMCA Training November 2002 to July 2003

Special Advisers

John Bercow: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the salary bill was for special advisers in his Department in 2002–03; and what it is expected to be in 2003–04.

Douglas Alexander: The Government are committed to publishing the annual paybill of special advisers and an annual list of the numbers of special advisers in each payband by department. This information is currently being assembled and will be published when it is ready.

Statutory Instruments

John Bercow: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will list the statutory instruments issued by his Department in the last 12 months, indicating (a) the purpose of each and (b) the cost of each to (i) public funds, (ii) businesses and (iii) individuals.

Douglas Alexander: The Cabinet Office has issued one Statutory Instrument during the last 12 months:
	SI 2002 No. 1913—Superannuation (Admission to Schedule 1 to the Superannuation Act 1972) Order 2002
	The purpose of the SI was to add to and remove from the list of Other Bodies and Offices covered by the Superannuation Act 1972 .
	The cost of implementation to (i) Public funds was nil, (ii) businesses nil and (iii) individuals nil.
	A second Statutory Instrument No. 1807 Parliamentary Pension Amendment Regulations is also listed as a Cabinet Office SI but is the responsibility of the Leader of the House.

Timber

Joan Walley: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much independently certified timber is being used in the refurbishment of 70 Whitehall; and what proportion of the total timber purchased for this refurbishment this represents.

Douglas Alexander: External refurbishment work is currently being undertaken at 70 Whitehall.
	No timber is being used directly in relation to the refurbishment project. The only timber or timber products which are being used in the current refurbishment of 70 Whitehall are in relation to the scaffolding.
	Approximately 773 sq m of plywood and 450 linear metres of softwood are being used. This has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and represents 100 per cent. of the timber used for this project.

Timber

Joan Walley: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what refurbishment is being undertaken at 70 Whitehall; how much timber is being used in this refurbishment and for what purposes; which companies are providing the timber for this project; and when the refurbishment is due to be completed.

Douglas Alexander: External refurbishment work is currently being undertaken at 70 Whitehall.
	No timber is being used directly in relation to the refurbishment project. The only timber or timber products which are being used in the current refurbishment of 70 Whitehall are in relation to the scaffolding. The timber has been provided by Montague L. Meyer Ltd. and has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. The project is due for completion at the end of May 2003. Approximately 773 sq. metres, of plywood and 450 linear metres of softwood are being used. This has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and represents 100 per cent. of the timber used for this project.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the provincial reconstruction teams in Afghanistan in (a) developing a stable and secure environment in the Afghan regions and (b) promoting security sector reform; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The role of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams is to assist in extending the Transitional Administration's authority, help to develop a stable and secure environment in the Afghan regions and facilitate security sector reform and reconstruction. Initial reports show success against these objectives.

Armed Services Accommodation

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK armed services personnel on average in the last five years were (a) barracked within the UK and (b) have a private residence that is not provided by the armed forces.

Lewis Moonie: The number of people barracked within the UK has been interpreted to mean the number of Service personnel occupying publicly funded accommodation (both Service Family Accommodation (SFA) and Single Living Accommodation (SLA)) in mainland United Kingdom (Great Britain) for the last five years. The number of Service personnel occupying SFA and SLA is as follows:
	SFA
	
		
			 Year (as at 1 April) Number occupying SFA 
		
		
			 1999 46,297 
			 2000 44,988 
			 2001 43,629 
			 2002 42,320 
			 2003 40,970 
		
	
	SLA
	Historical data on the number of Service personnel occupying SLA in Great Britain is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. However, the Armed Forces Pay Administration Agency (AFPAA) has identified that as at 10 April 2003, some 44,428 Service personnel were paying the Single Living Accommodation charge as a result of their occupation of this accommodation in Great Britain. This is not the total picture because a number of personnel are entitled to live in SLA without charge; but again data on this is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
	Ownership and occupation of private property
	Stastistics on the number of Service personnel who own a private residence are not collected. However, the following table identified the proportion of Service personnel who said that they own their own home in the Services' Continuous Attitude Surveys, which has then been applied to the total strength of each Service to give an indication of the number of personnel who own their own home (as at 1 April 2002):
	
		
			 Service Percentages of personnel who own their own home Number ofpersonnel who own their own home 
		
		
			 RN 71 29,560 
			 Army 35.5 39,067 
			 RAF 47.5 25,177 
			 Total -- 93,804 
		
	
	Note:
	Historical data is not available.

British Military Personnel (Food Security)

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether food supplied to British military personnel is tested for (a) anthrax, (b) ricin, (c) staphylococcus enterotoxin B, (d) e.coli 0157 and (e) other biological agents.

Lewis Moonie: All food supplied to British Military personnel is procured from reputable sources and is subject to extensive and stringent quality controls. Furthermore, it meets or exceeds all EU quality standards.
	An assessment has been made of the risk to the security of our food supply chain and we are satisfied that sufficient safeguards exist relative to the risk.

Chemical Weapons

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether British troops in the Gulf are equipped with disabling nerve agents; and under what circumstances they can be used.

Geoff Hoon: holding answer 10 March 2003
	No. As a State Party to the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, the United Kingdom has undertaken never to develop, produce or use chemical weapons.

Deepcut Army Barracks

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many weapons, of what calibre, were found to be missing from Deepcut army barracks in each year since 1993.

Adam Ingram: None.

Defence Medical Services

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what defence medical services are available to the UK armed forces on active service in the Gulf (a) in theatre, (b) in transit to the UK and (c) in the UK.

Lewis Moonie: The medical services available to armed forces personnel deployed to the Gulf region include integrated medical support within units, dressing stations and two Field Hospitals. At the commencement of operations in the Gulf, three Field Hospitals and the Primary Casualty Receiving Facility, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) ARGUS, were deployed in theatre. The personnel from one of the Field Hospitals have recently returned to the United Kingdom, and RFA ARGUS left theatre on 13 April.
	Medical evacuation back to the UK, where necessary, is provided by the Royal Air Force. Personnel are flown initially to The Princess Mary's Hospital at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, and following reassessment and any further treatment, would either be returned to theatre, or to the UK. On arrival in the UK, and depending on their clinical condition, individuals may be referred back to their unit medical officer, to NHS hospitals or to military specialist facilities. We have a well-established joint plan with the Department of Health, "Reception Arrangements for Military Patients", for handling casualties returned from overseas in times of conflict. In accordance with this plan, the Department of Health determines which NHS hospitals receive Service casualties, based on bed availability and clinical need.

Departmental Pay

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made with the pay review in his Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible, with particular reference to the gender pay gap; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: The Ministry of Defence, in common with all other Government Departments, has conducted an equal pay audit following the publication of the report by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) Equal Pay Task Force, 'Just Pay', in March 2001. The outcome of the audit, including an action plan, will be notified to the Cabinet Office soon.

Drummore Harbour

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when Drummore Harbour was last dredged; and what the planned programme for future dredging is.

Lewis Moonie: Drummore Harbour was last dredged by the Ministry of Defence in October 2001. There are no plans to carry out further dredging at this time.

Employment Relations Act

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff in his Department have taken time off from work in order to attend to domestic incidents as provided for by the Employment Relations Act 1999.

Lewis Moonie: The Ministry of Defence endeavours to create a family friendly working environment for civilian staff at all levels as part of our work life balance strategy. With this in mind the Ministry of Defence has issued guidance to staff on special leave for domestic reasons as provided for in the Employment Relations Act. The policy of the Ministry of Defence on this matter goes beyond the minimum requirements of the Act by allowing this special leave to be paid in many circumstances.
	The responsibility for authorising such leave has been delegated to line managers and therefore records are not held centrally.

Energy Policy

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement, in relation to his Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which his Department is responsible, on (a) the amount of energy consumed, (b) spending on (i) energy and (ii) energy efficiency measures, (c) the amount saved through energy efficiency measures and (d) energy policy in each of the last five years.

Lewis Moonie: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

EU Defence Summit

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the UK has been invited to participate in the defence summit being held by EU countries on 29 April; and what his policy is on a core group of EU countries developing common defence policies independently of the wider European Union.

Geoff Hoon: No. The Belgian Prime Minister has invited his counterparts from France, Germany and Luxembourg to a multilateral meeting on 29 April to discuss defence issues. The character and nature of these countries' defence policies and the linkages between them, outside the framework of the European Union, is a matter for them.

Exhibitions

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list events at which his Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which his Department is responsible have exhibited in each of the last three years, stating for each (a) the purpose of exhibiting, (b) the cost of exhibiting and (c) the number of staff attending for the exhibition.

Lewis Moonie: The information is not held centrally in the form requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. I am therefore unable to provide a substantive answer under the terms of Exemption 9 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Finnish Air Force

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps have been taken to increase co-operation between the RAF and the Finnish Air Force; whether joint training for RAF Harriers and Finnish F-18s has been achieved; whether training for Finnish pilots in air-to-air refuelling has been achieved; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: United Kingdom/Finnish defence relations are good and are growing closer, with relations between the Finnish Air Force and the RAF benefiting from successful bilateral co-operation. Useful training for RAF Harriers and Finnish F-18s took place as part of joint activities in 2001, which followed discussions instigated by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence. During this activity, two Finnish Air Force pilots were certified in air refuelling, and talks have taken place to discuss the possibility of further training. Naval Harriers are planned to participate in a Finnish exercise in June this year.

Firefighters' Dispute

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the continuing impact of possible industrial action by firefighters on the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Army and (c) Royal Air Force.

Adam Ingram: The provision of emergency fire cover continues to be carefully balanced with other demands on the services, allowing the maintenance of maximum flexibility for contingency tasking and operational deployments, as well as protection of public safety during firelighters' strikes.
	Nevertheless, the longer service personnel are held ready to provide emergency firefighting cover the greater the penalty to other activities is likely to be. The impact was felt from the outset of firefighter training last year, by all three services across a wide spectrum of their normal activity, although it is not practicable to distinguish between the three services. Wherever possible, adjustments have been made to operating procedures and manning levels to ensure that the impact is kept to a minimum.

Forces Training

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total expenditure was on training in the (a) Royal Navy and Royal Marines, (b) Army and (c) RAF; and how much was spent by each service in Scotland in the last year for which figures are available.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 10 December 2002
	The best available estimates for the amounts spent by the Services' Training Agencies in 2001–02 on individual training for the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, Army and Royal Air Force are respectively:
	
		
			 Service £ million 
		
		
			 Royal Navy 386 
			 Army 838 
			 Royal Air Force 554 
		
	
	These figures are on a full resource accounting basis.
	For the Royal Navy, a small proportion of trainee days are spent in Scotland, but separate costs are not recorded for these activities by the Naval Training and Recruiting Agency. The Army Training and Recruiting Agency estimates that its total expenditure in Scotland in the current financial year will be some £18 million. The majority of the RAF Training Group Defence Agency's training establishments are based in England and Wales, but the cost of their Outdoor Activity Centre at Grantown-on-Spey in Scotland for the current financial year is £648,000.
	The cash costs of Royal Marines individual training for financial year 2001–02 were £43 million. It is not possible to identify separately Royal Marines training expenditure in Scotland.
	Training costs falling to the Front-Line Commands are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Former Prisoners of War

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many of the civilians with addresses abroad who have not qualified for the ex gratia scheme for former Far East civilian prisoners of war have proven internment but are rejected on the bloodlink criteria; and how many have spent their working lives in the United Kingdom and gone abroad on retirement;
	(2)  how many of the civilians with addresses abroad who have benefited from the ex gratia scheme for former Far East civilian prisoners of war were evacuated in 1942; how many of those paid prior to the end of May 2001 would not satisfy the new bloodlink criteria; how many do not hold United Kingdom passports now; and how many did not hold British passports at the time of internment;
	(3)  how many of the civilians with United Kingdom addresses who have benefited from the ex gratia scheme for former Far East civilian prisoners of war were evacuated in 1942; how many of those paid prior to the end of May 2001 would not satisfy the bloodlink criteria introduced on 25 June 2001; and how many did not hold British passports at the time of internment;
	(4)  how many of the civilians with United Kingdom addresses who have not qualified for the ex gratia scheme for former Far East civilian prisoners of war have proven internment but are rejected on the bloodlink criteria.

Lewis Moonie: Approximately 800 claims from civilians including surviving spouses with addresses abroad were rejected on the bloodlink criteria. It is not known how many have proven internment. Approximately 300 claims from civilians including surviving spouses with United Kingdom addresses were rejected on the bloodlink criteria; of these approximately 100 have been able to prove internment.
	It is not known how many of the rejected claimants spent their working lives in the UK and went abroad on retirement. These and other statistics are not available, because the details necessary to produce them were not required or sought from claimants as part of the process of verification of claims.

French Ship Attachments

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on French ship attachments to UK task groups.

Adam Ingram: French ships are occasionally attached to United Kingdom Naval Task Groups on a purely bilateral basis. The most recent attachments were those of FS Primauguet to the Naval Task Group (NTG) 2003 between 17 and 29 January 2003 and the French Minehunter, FS Cassiopee, to a Royal Navy Mine Countermeasure Group between 21 January and 7 March 2003. This followed the successful integration of FS Aconit during the NTG 2000 deployment. Such integration between our naval forces is considered routine business.

Gibraltar Guard Ship

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Royal Navy vessel last carried out the duty of Gibraltar Guard Ship; and which warship is on station carrying out those duties.

Adam Ingram: The Royal Navy presence in Gibraltar is provided by The Gibraltar Squadron. The Squadron usually comprises two patrol vessels. This is appropriate to the current assessment of requirements. Currently, on a temporary basis, there are four patrol craft in Gibraltar whilst the task is transferred to vessels reassigned from Northern Ireland. HMS Ranger and HMS Trumpeter are the outgoing patrol craft, HMS Scimitar and HMS Sabre are the incoming patrol craft. No frigate or destroyer is deployed as a Gibraltar Guard Ship.

Identification Equipment

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what forms of Identification Friend or Foe equipment which distinguish between friendly and hostile ground forces have been evaluated by the Ministry of Defence; and whether he will introduce such a system.

Adam Ingram: Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) equipment contributes to our combat identification capability—how we distinguish between friend, foe and neutrals in modern joint and coalition military operations. This capability is delivered through a combination of three elements: Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (for example, the use of recognition devices on vehicles and the clear definition of areas of operation), Situational Awareness (knowledge of what is happening in the battlespace) and Target Identification (the ability to positively identify a target within the battlespace). IFF equipment particularly supports the latter. Distinguishing between friendly and hostile ground forces, whether from the ground or from the air, is generally recognised to be a significant challenge and, as in other environments, there is no single technical solution to the problem. We are seeking to update and improve our capability across all elements of combat identification and for target identification we will introduce in the second half of this decade the Battlefield Target Identification system and the Airborne System for Target Recognition, Identification and Designation.

Initial/Main Gate Programmes

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list programmes estimated to cost over £100 million that have received (a) initial gate and (b) main gate approval since 1997–98.

Adam Ingram: The Initial and Main Gate approval process has only been in operation within the Ministry of Defence since April 1999, having been introduced as one element of implementation of the Smart Procurement Initiative. The following projects involving estimated investment over 100 million have received Initial and/or Main Gate approval since April 1999:
	Initial Gate
	Microwave Landing System
	Soothsayer: Electronic Warfare
	Sender: Unmanned Air Vehicle
	Battlegroup Thermal Imaging
	Defence Housing Executive Management Information System
	Mine Detection and Neutralisation
	Counter Anti-Radiation Missile Suite
	UK Co-operative Engagement Capability
	Sonar and Signature Improvement Programme
	Defence Logistics Organisation Information Strategy Programme
	Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft
	Light Forces Anti-Tank Guided Weapon
	Future Command & Liaison Vehicle
	Future Joint Combat Aircraft
	C Vehicles
	Armoured Vehicles Training Service
	Tri-Service Airfield Support Services Project
	In Transit Visibility
	Project Aquatrine (provision of water and sewerage services)—Package A
	Tubed Artillery Conventional Ammunition System
	Indirect Fire Precision Attack
	Project PICASSO (imagery and geospatial intelligence production system)
	Digitisation of the Land Battlefield
	Precision Guided Bomb
	Future Integrated Soldier Technology
	Project Allenby/Connaught
	Northwood Refurbishment
	Battlefield Light Utility Helicopter
	Defence Estates Regional Prime Contracting
	Single Living Accommodation
	Cyprus Accommodation
	Integrated Ground Based Air Defence Phase 1
	Inner London Barracks
	Defence Information Infrastructure
	Surface Combatant Maritime Rotorcraft
	Project Falcon—Land Formation Communication System
	Project Aquatrine (provision of water and sewerage services)—Packages B&C
	Temporary Deployable Accommodation
	Defence Training Review
	Neptune regeneration project (HMNB Clyde Accommodation)
	Combined Aerial Targets Service
	Defence Housing Executive Prime Contract+
	UK Military Flying Training System
	Defence Medical Information Capability Programme
	Support Amphibious Battlefield Rotorcraft—Search and Rescue
	Main Gate
	Type 45 Destroyer and Principal Anti-Aircraft Missile System
	Colchester Garrison
	Future Transport Aircraft (A400M) & Short Term Strategic Airlift (C17)
	Beyond Visual Range Air to Air Missile (Meteor)
	Main Building Refurbishment
	SA80 Upgrade
	Survey Vessels
	Defence Housing Executive PFI Housing Project
	Successor Identification Friend or Foe
	Defence Electronic Commerce Service
	White Fleet PFI
	Roll-On Roll-Off Ferries
	Typhoon Aircrew Synthetic Training Aids
	Alternative Landing Ships Logistic
	TROJAN-TITAN Engineer Vehicle
	Heavy Equipment Transporter
	Astute Class Training Services
	Sonar 2087
	Surface Ship Torpedo Defence
	Tornado GR4 Upgraded Main Computer Programme
	Armed Forces Pay and Administration Agency
	Generic Helicopter Health and Usage Monitoring System
	Battlegroup Thermal Imaging
	Wheeled Tanker
	BOWMAN Radio
	P2P (Purchase to Payment)
	Support Vehicles
	Skynet 5
	Next Generation Light Anti-armour Weapon
	Field Electrical Power Supplies
	Terrier
	Single Living Accommodation
	Digitization of the Land Battlefield
	Project Aquatrine (provision of water and sewerage services)—Package A
	Typhoon International Weapon System Support System
	Light Forces Anti-Tank Guided Weapon
	Scotland Regional Prime Contract
	Neptune regeneration project (HMNB Clyde Accommodation)
	SSN Berthing
	Defence High Frequency Communications Service

International Military Services

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether International Military Services have settled all contractual issues arising from the sale of tanks to the Shah of Iran; in what legal actions in the last five years IMS has been involved; under which jurisdictions; and when he expects to wind up the affairs of International Military Services.

Geoff Hoon: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 6 February 2003, Official Report, column 402W, to the hon. Member for Truro and St. Austell (Matthew Taylor). The only legal actions in which International Military Services Ltd. (IMS) has been involved have been those relating to its arbitrations with Iran on the tank contracts and an infrastructure contract, and the consequential appeals. Different elements of the actions have been conducted under Dutch and English jurisdiction. IMS will be wound up when the appeals proceedings are complete. This may not be for four or five years.

Iraq

Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many serving members of the armed forces in the Gulf have had training in Arabic.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 7 April 2003
	The information requested is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Service records do not give details of how individuals have acquired their language skills. Some personnel will have been trained in Arabic, for example at the Defence School of Languages; others, however, will have acquired their language skills by other means, such as from having lived in an Arabic-speaking country or from an Arabic-speaking parent. Determining how many Arabic speakers among our forces in the Gulf have received training in Arabic could only be done by seeking the information from the individuals concerned.

Iraq

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British (a) tanks, (b) armoured personnel carriers, (c) land vehicles and (d) aircraft have been lost in the Iraq War.

Adam Ingram: I am withholding this information in accordance with Exemption 1a of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, which relates to defence, security and international relations.

Iraq

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on incidences of 'friendly fire' during the current campaign in Iraq.

Adam Ingram: All casualties suffered by our armed forces are a serious matter. It is especially tragic that British Servicemen have lost their lives in so-called "friendly fire" incidents. Sadly such casualties are a risk of warfare. The issue of Combat Identification is taken very seriously; we worked closely with the United States to ensure that effective arrangements were in place before the start of operations in Iraq. United Kingdom forces' Combat Identification capability is compatible and comparable with that of our US allies. Combat Identification is not delivered by a single system or piece of equipment, but by a combination of tactics and procedures backed up by technology. Regrettably, no system can be 100 per cent. fail-safe, but we remain confident that the capability with which we have provided our forces is as effective as possible, despite the recent tragic incidents.

Iraq

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contribution his Department has made to the cost of embedded journalists during the Iraq war.

Lewis Moonie: Embedded journalists with British forces in Iraq have been provided with a range of facilities, services and equipment in accordance with the instructions in the Green Book—"Working Arrangements with the media in times of Emergency, Tension, Conflict or War". This has included documentation, military clothing, protective equipment, training, accommodation, food and military transport into, within and out of theatre.
	The exact costs of these services, facilities and equipment have not been separately identified and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Iraq

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the normal duration is of the tour of duty for servicemen serving in the Gulf.

Adam Ingram: The normal duration of a tour of duty varies according to the wider manning and training requirements of each service. Deployed operational tours to the Gulf do not normally exceed six months.
	Our policy for operations in the Gulf, and elsewhere, is to deploy personnel on operations for no longer than is necessary to achieve the military aim and personnel are withdrawn at the earliest opportunity.

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the use of the Bugsplat Computer programme to target missiles and bombs in the invasion of Iraq.

Adam Ingram: The Bugsplat Computer program is a United States modelling tool developed to assist in assessing weapon effects. The United Kingdom does not use the Bugsplat Computer program.

Iraq

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to send paediatric equipment modules to British Army field hospitals operating in Iraq to assist with the treatment of young children; how many such modules have been sent to Iraq; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 14 April 2003
	The Ministry of Defence has despatched 21 medical modules containing paediatric equipment to our field hospitals in the Gulf region. We are working closely with the Department for International Development to ensure that humanitarian assistance is provided in line with the United Kingdom's obligations under the Geneva Conventions and Hague Regulations.

Iraq

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps are being taken to restore the supply of electricity in Basra; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 10 April 2003, Official Report, column 350W, to the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Dr. Tonge).

Iraq

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on the establishment of a peacekeeping force in Iraq; and if he will make a statement on the role of British forces in Iraq once hostilities cease.

Adam Ingram: During and after hostilities in Iraq, United Kingdom forces will, as part of the coalition, conduct a variety of security tasks with the aim of establishing a safe and secure environment in which the Iraqi people can begin to rebuild their political institutions and economic infrastructure. They will stay as long as is necessary.

Luce Bay

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the effect on his Department's operations of political and environmental designations on Luce Bay.

Lewis Moonie: I have assumed that the hon Gentleman's question refers to the recent decision to designate West Freugh as a campaigned site, which includes the Luce Bay bombing range. On this basis, I can confirm that there has been no resulting effect on the Department's operations. There has been no separate environmental designation by the Ministry of Defence.

Market Research

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what expenditure has been incurred by his (a) Department, (b) agencies and (c) non-departmental bodies in 2002 on (i) opinion polling, (ii) focus groups and (iii) other forms of market research; and if he will list the surveys commissioned and the purpose of each.

Lewis Moonie: The Government want to hear what people have to say about proposed new policies and ideas and are committed to obtaining the best value for money. Public opinion research, including focus groups and polling, is subject to the usual strict rules that spending must represent good value for the tax payer and must not be used for party political purposes.
	Information on the totality of quantitative and qualitative surveys carried out by the Ministry of Defence and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	However, the central corporate communications division carries out public opinion research relating to the Department as a whole and does have a record of research that they initiated. The following surveys were conducted during the financial year 2002–03 (costs are provisional and subject to final audit and are inclusive of VAT):
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			  
			  
			 MOD quantitative research 38,958.75 
			 Public attitudes to defence surveys 16,536.95 
			 Media coverage evaluation 21,749.25 
			 MOD image focus groups 2,162.00 
			 Iraq media monitoring 5,287.50 
			 Total cost 84,694.45

Military Police

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the funding of the (a) Ministry of Defence Police, (b) Royal Air Force Police, (c) Royal Marines Police, (d) Royal Military Police and (e) Royal Navy Service Police.

Lewis Moonie: Police personnel funding for the current year (2003–04) is as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 RN Regulating Branch 12.1 
			 Royal Marines Police 1.1 
			 Royal Military Police 54.9 
			 RAF Police 46.8 
			 Ministry of Defence Police 128.2

Multi-national Defence Co-operation

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what action has been taken to build on increased co-operation between the UK and (a) Finland, (b) France, (c) Germany, (d) Italy, (e) The Netherlands and (f) Norway in the areas of (i) medical co-ordination, (ii) air manoeuvre, (iii) air-to-air refuelling, (iv) search and rescue, (v) unmanned aerial vehicles and (vi) training; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The United Kingdom is working to improve multi-national defence co-operation across a wide range of military capabilities through NATO's Prague Capabilities Commitment (PCC), in co-ordination with the EU's European Capabilities Action Plan (ECAP), which seeks to fill specific shortfalls against the Helsinki Headline Goal, and through our regular bilateral contacts.
	The UK has been engaged in several ECAP panels including on medical co-ordination, outsized air transport, air-to-air refuelling, search and rescue and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. As part of our participation in a number of NATO capabilities initiatives we currently hold observer status on air-to-air refuelling in the Prague Capabilities Commitment High Level Group.
	In the area of medical co-ordination, we have worked with Finland to ensure that arrangements are in place to provide continuing medical support of Finnish forces deployed in the Balkans. On air manoeuvre, we have had close consultations with the Netherlands to establish common procedure on doctrine, training, sustainability and equipment for our respective Attack Helicopter forces. We have established permanent liaison with Germany to facilitate the exchange of information on tactical and operational developments. In 2001, we carried out combined air-to-air refuelling training with Finland and an Air Defence exercise is planned in June 2003. We have exchanged information with Italy on Search and Rescue and discussed Combat Search and Rescue. We co-operate with France in a wide range of capability areas and hold an annual summit, which prioritises those key areas of capability in which we wish to work more closely. The UK routinely conducts bilateral and multilateral training to varying degrees with a wide range of NATO and EU countries.

Multi-national Defence Co-operation

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps the Government has taken to promote multinational defence co-operation (a) within NATO, (b) within the European defence dimension and (c) with other partners; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: The Government are actively promoting multinational defence co-operation within NATO, within the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) and on a bilateral basis, primarily in order to enhance military capability. Within NATO, the Prague Capabilities Commitment aims to improve Alliance capabilities in CBRN defence; information superiority; combat effectiveness; and deployability and sustainability, and has directed Allies towards pursuing multinational solutions. Within the EU, the European Capabilities Action Plan (ECAP) fosters co-operation between member states in order to fill specific capability shortfalls against the Helsinki Headline Goal. The work within NATO and the EU is closely co-ordinated and mutually reinforcing, and the United Kingdom plays an active role in both. The Government also promotes multinational defence co-operation through regular bilateral contacts with friends and allies. In particular, together with NATO, we are encouraging the seven countries invited to join the Alliance to participate in multinational defence co-operation activities with existing members.

Multi-national Defence Co-operation

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made in developing the NATO concept of the European Multinational Maritime Force; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The European Multinational Maritime Force has now evolved into the European Maritime Initiative, bringing together a number of European Navies. As part of this initiative, we are developing a Generic European Maritime Concept of Operations for endorsement in Helsinki at the end of May 2003.

Operation Telic

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has (a) had and (b) initiated with his Russian counterpart to ensure that (i) Royal Navy involvement in Operation Telic is unimpeded by the Russian Navy Task Group deployed in the area and (ii) confusion and error are avoided.

Adam Ingram: On 17 April 2003 the British Embassy was officially informed, via a diplomatic note, of the Russian Naval Fleet deployment to the Indian Ocean. The international rules for the prevention of collisions at sea, the INCSEA agreement, form the basis for ensuring safety between units. INCSEA rules are embedded within Royal Navy standard operating procedures and these will be employed by the Royal Navy to ensure safe passage and to deconflict between units. Russian naval activity should in no way impede the Royal Navy's involvement in Operation Telic.

Parental Leave

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff in his Department have used their leave entitlement under the Parental Leave Directive since it came into force.

Lewis Moonie: The Ministry of Defence endeavours to create a family friendly working environment for civilian staff at all levels as part of our work life balance strategy. In this respect guidance has been issued to staff in the Ministry of Defence to make them aware of parental leave entitlements and setting out the procedures to be followed.
	The responsibility for authorising such leave has been delegated to local units and therefore records are not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Press Office

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people are employed in his Department's press office; and how many were employed on 2 May 1997.

Lewis Moonie: As at 16 April 2003 a total of 20 people are employed in the Department's central press office. There are also three augmentees in the press office who were drafted in from across the Department and other Government Departments to help deal with Operation TELIC.
	Unfortunately, accurate records for the number of people employed in the central press office on 2 May 1997 no longer exist.

Private Finance Initiative

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the expected saving to public funds from the Private Finance Initiative schemes due to become operational in 2003.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 10 April 2003, Official Report, column 400W.
	The Department will pursue the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) wherever it delivers the value for money quality services that we require. There are a number of projects that are likely to be signed within 2003 and others that are already signed that will commence service delivery. Information relating to projects in procurement is available on the Department's PFI database: http://www.mod.uk/business/PPP/database.html

Private Finance Initiative

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many PFI contracts his Department or its agencies (a) have with and (b) are being tendered for by (i) Amey plc and (ii) consortia involving Amey plc; what the total value is of those contracts; what the average length is of the contracts or proposed contracts; and what assessment his Department has made of the financial position of Amey plc and the implications for his Department.

Adam Ingram: Amey is involved with the signed PFI deal for the Main Building Redevelopment, which is a 30-year deal worth a total of £746.1 million (net present value). The contract is with Modus Services plc. Amey provides services as a sub contractor to Modus. Responsibility for meeting the contract therefore rests with Modus who are ensuring that the Ministry of Defence's requirements are met.
	Amey is also part of consortia on the short lists of bidders for the Allenby Connaught project (the redevelopment of the major garrisons in the Salisbury Plain area and Aldershot) and the C Vehicles project (earthmoving and specialist plant, engineer construction plant and materials handling equipment). The length of these contracts will be 30 and 15 years respectively, with a combined value in excess of £2.4 billion (net present value).
	The procurement process for PFI includes an assessment of the financial robustness of bids and in most cases, these involve more than one party, thereby adding to their financial strength. Furthermore, the Ministry of Defence makes an assessment of the financial capability of many companies before placing contracts with them. As a result of such an assessment, the Department may require financial indemnities or guarantees before awarding contracts. The results of such assessments are commercially sensitive and are being withheld in accordance with Exemption 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. It would be inappropriate to comment on the financial position of particular companies, which is a matter for the shareholders concerned.

Property Portfolio

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the estimated value is of the property portfolio held by his Department.

Lewis Moonie: I refer the hon. Member to Note 8 of the Consolidated Departmental Resource Accounts 2001–02 (HC47) published on 21 November 2002. Copies have been placed in the Library of the House and the document is available on the Ministry of Defence website.
	For ease of reference, the value disclosed in Note 8 of the Accounts was £14,348 million for Land and Buildings and those in the course of construction was £1,577 million.

Smart Technology Weapons

Peter Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what research he has commissioned on the effectiveness of smart technology weapons which has factored in combat identification; and what the findings were.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 14 April 2003
	Combat Identification capability contributes to military success by enabling commanders to distinguish rapidly and effectively between friend, foe and neutrals in complex modern military operations. This would normally happen before a decision was made to engage a target and the role of a weapon system would be to translate the decision into effect.
	A key element of Combat Identification is Target Identification. Research on Target Identification relating to smart weapons systems is currently focused on the ability to distinguish, for example, between classes of vehicles—such as whether a vehicle is tracked or wheeled.

Working Hours

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what policy on (a) core hours and (b) flexible working hours is operated by his Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which his Department is responsible.

Lewis Moonie: In the Department full-time non-industrial civilian staff below the Senior Civil Service are conditioned to 42 hours gross, 37 hours net per week (41 hours gross and 36 hours net in London). Full time industrial staff are conditioned to 37 hours net per week (36 hours in London). Staff working a standard working week normally will attend for five days of the same duration.
	It is the Department's policy to encourage civilian staff, at all levels, to adopt flexible working hours as part of our work life balance strategy. A variety of policies are in place to achieve this. In this context, the new statutory right for those with young children to request flexible working has been publicised. The responsibility for authorising these alternative working patterns has been delegated and records are not held centrally. As it will take time to collate the relevant information I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum Seekers

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Afghans with (a) exceptional leave to remain in Britain and (b) awaiting a decision on an asylum application on appeal have received a resettlement grant in each month since August 2002.

Beverley Hughes: The table details the number of individuals who travelled under the Return to Afghanistan Programme (RAP) each month between 20 August 2002 (when the Programme commenced) and 31 March 2003. In total there were 39 returnees and each received a resettlement grant (£600 per individual, up to a maximum of £2,500 per family). Three families travelled during this period, and each family received the maximum £2,500 grant. Current available records do not distinguish between returnees who had exceptional leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom and returnees who were awaiting either a decision or an appeal outcome following their asylum application. Enforced returns will begin later this month (April 2003).
	
		
			  Number of persons returned individually Number of personsreturned aspart of a family Total number of persons returned 
		
		
			 August 2002 1 0 1 
			 September 2002 3 0 3 
			 October 2002 2 1(6) 8 
			 November 2002 3 1(7) 10 
			 December 2002 0 0 0 
			 January 2003 4 0 4 
			 February 2003 1 0 1 
			 March 2003 7 1(5) 12 
		
	
	Source:
	Local management information provided by the Home Office Assisted Voluntary Return Team.

Asylum Seekers

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many former residents of Sangatte Refugee Centre admitted to the UK with work permits following closure of the camp (a) are still being provided with accommodation at public expense and (b) have obtained employment and are self-supporting.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 11 April 2003
	Of the 1,023 people admitted from Sangatte, 148 remain in the temporary hotel accommodation originally provided and are being found longer term accommodation as the initial period of the programme winds down. Information on job entries is being collected and will be made available in due course.

Asylum Seekers

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for asylum have been received by persons arriving at Stranraer and Cairnryan ports in each of the last three years.

Beverley Hughes: The figures are not available for all of the period in question but the number of new applications for asylum lodged at Stranraer is as follows:
	
		
			 Month  
		
		
			 1 January–31 December 2000 10 
			 1 January–31 December 2001 36 
			 1 January–30 November 2002 130

Child Abuse

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department will respond to the fourth report of the Home Affairs Committee, on the conduct of investigations into past cases of abuse in children's homes, HC836, session 2001–02.

Hilary Benn: The Government's response to the Home Affairs Committee report HC836 was published on 11 April 2003. Copies have been placed in the Library.

Departmental Costs

Julia Drown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was to his Department of the case of R (on the application of Pretty) v. DPP 2001.

Hilary Benn: The Home Office was represented as an interested party in the case. The cost of legal representation was £36,161.06.

Departmental Costs

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the running costs in 2002 were of (a) his Ministers private offices, separately identifying expenditure on staff, and (b) his Department.

David Blunkett: The running costs for the whole of Private Office—including non Ministerial Offices in 2001–02 comprised £3,442,740 in pay costs and £1,049,964 in other running costs. Changes in financial recording systems from 2001 mean that it is no longer possible, without disproportionate cost, to separate the cost of Ministerial from non-Ministerial offices. Consequently this figure is not directly comparable with those provided in previous years, which did not include the cost of the offices of the Permanent Secretary, the Director General, Resources and Performance, Special Advisers, as well as the Typing Centre and the Ministerial Briefing Unit, which was largely created by bringing together existing staff in other Directorates.
	Departmental running costs for the period ending March 2002 are published in the Home Office Resource Accounts which were presented to Parliament on 31 January.
	Corresponding figures for 2002–03 are not yet available.

Drugs (Prisons)

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of mandatory drugs testing in prison in reducing the consumption of drugs other than cannabis; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: It is difficult to determine the extent to which any one of a package of supply reduction measures alone has an impact on drug misuse in prisons. Overall, mandatory drug testing (MDT) figures show the greatest decline to be in the use of cannabis. A research study on the effectiveness of the MDT programme is being undertaken and the findings are due to be published in June 2003.

Employment Relations Act

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff in his Department have taken time off from work in order to attend to domestic incidents as provided for by the Employment Relations Act 1999.

David Blunkett: Since 1990, responsibility for authorising and monitoring special leave granted for domestic reasons has been devolved to individual Heads of Units. Information is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Immigration and Asylum

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of the Parliamentary Under Secretary of 19 March, Official Report, column 291WH, when he will respond in writing to points raised during the Westminster Hall adjournment debate.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 14 April 2003
	I wrote to the hon. Member on 9 April 2003.

Immigration and Asylum

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were admitted to the UK pursuant to section 4(1) of the Immigration Act 1971 without restriction on their employment during 2002.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 14 April 2003
	The main route of entry into the UK for employment is the work permit scheme. Work permit holders are admitted to take the employment specified in their work permit, although they can apply for a new work permit if there is a change of employment. The dependants of work permit holders are admitted to the UK without restriction on their employment.
	The latest available information relates to 2001 when 81,100 work permit holders and 27,800 dependants of work permit holders were admitted to the UK pursuant to Section 4( 1) of the Immigration Act 1971.

Immigration and Asylum

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will revise the Immigration Rules to take account of (a) the status of humanitarian protection and (b) changes to the rules regarding entry clearance on the basis of marriage.

Beverley Hughes: We fully intend to incorporate Humanitarian Protection in the Immigration Rules.
	At the moment, Humanitarian Protection is granted under the same powers in the 1971 Act as Discretionary Leave. However, it is our intention to include Humanitarian Protection in the rules as soon as possible.
	A Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules incorporating the changes to the marriage rules was laid before Parliament on 31 March and came into effect on 1 April.

Immigration and Asylum

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if discretionary leave to remain in the UK will be granted to persons where asylum claims have been refused before 1 April, but who cannot be removed from the UK.

Beverley Hughes: Under the policy announced on 1 April, discretionary leave will only be granted to a person who is able to demonstrate a genuine need for leave to remain in the United Kingdom for one of a limited number of reasons.
	It is our policy not to grant a person discretionary leave simply because they cannot be removed from the United Kingdom. The great majority of failed asylum seekers can reasonably be expected to return to their countries voluntarily even if they cannot immediately be removed.

Immigration and Asylum

Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 25 March 2003, to the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald), Official Report, column 152W, on the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, what proportion of the total expenditure incurred by the National Asylum Support Service was spent on (a) staff pay, (b) staff related expenditure, IT and accommodation, (c) payments of subsistence support to asylum seekers, (d) payments for asylum seekers' accommodation, (e) grants to the receptions' assistant agencies and (f) other expenditure, in each of the last three years.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 3 April 2003
	Actual expenditure for the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) excluding capital and cost of capital for 2000–01 and 2001–02 is as follows:
	
		
			  2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 
			 Year (£million) (£million)  
		
		
			 NASS total expenditure of which: 783 1,082 (14) 
			 Staff Pay 0 16  
			 Non pay 3 3  
			 Grants 23 17  
			 Asylum support payments 747 1,046  
		
	
	(14) Final expenditure figures for 2002–03 are not yet available.

Operation Ore

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what categories of public figures are being investigated as part of Operation Ore.

Hilary Benn: Individuals who are being investigated as a result of Operation Ore come from a wide range of professions, and it is not appropriate for me to provide further details of what remain on-going investigations. Investigations to date have sought to prioritise suspects who come from sensitive professions such as those who work with children/vulnerable people, in positions of authority, as well as those on the sex offenders register or those under investigation for similar crimes.

Parental Leave

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff in his Department have used their leave entitlement under the Parental Leave Directive since it came into force.

David Blunkett: Parental leave is available to all Home Office staff as one of a number of policies designed to help staff balance their work and home life. These include paid and unpaid maternity and adoption leave, paid paternity leave, career breaks, paid and unpaid special leave and a range of flexible working patterns. It is an unpaid entitlement and can be taken to look after a child or make arrangements for the child's welfare.
	Data on staff who take parental leave is recorded as unpaid leave on the Home Office personnel system. It is not possible to differentiate between parental leave and unpaid leave taken for other reasons. For this reason the number of staff who have applied for parental leave to date cannot be included except at disproportionate cost.
	The requirement to monitor different types of leave has been identified as part of the current design phase of the new Home Office personnel system.

Police Training (Terrorist Attacks)

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what training has been given in the last year to police officers to deal with a (a) chemical, (b) biological, (c) nuclear and (d) conventional terrorist attack;
	(2)  what funding has been allocated in each year since 1992 to training police officers in dealing with the aftermath of terrorist attacks, broken down by constabulary.

David Blunkett: The ability of police forces to respond to a terrorist attack involving the use of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) materials is being strengthened through the increased provision of specialist police training at the Police National CBRN Centre. Home Office funding is being made available to meet the full running and equipment costs involved to provide training for the first responders, senior commanders and specialist officers who would respond to a CBRN incident. This is in line with the Association of Chief Police Officers desired level of training to ensure that police forces nationally have the necessary resilience to deal with a CBRN incident. The total number CBRN trained officers to date is approximately 3,400 with 2,000 of these having been trained by the PNCBRNC since August 2002. In addition to the training being provided by the Police National CBRN Centre and in force training carried out by the Metropolitan Police Service and Sussex Police, some police forces have also undertaken local CBRN awareness seminars for all their staff.
	The Home Office National Counter-Terrorist Exercise Programme is centred on three annual large-scale live exercises with police forces, and other Government Departments, agencies and the military throughout the UK to test counter terrorist contingency plans. In addition between 12 and 15 table top exercises take place per year with police forces nationally, which cover a range of terrorist scenarios.

Prisoners

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding has been given since 1997 for mental health services per young prisoner in (a) young offender institutions, (b) secure accommodation and (c) secure training units; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: Information is not available in the form requested. A questionnaire completed in 2002–03 estimated the cost of health care for that year at those prison establishments in England that are wholly or in part young offender institutions to be over £34 million. Since it is commonly estimated that around half of the prison health care budget is spent on mental health services, this would indicate expenditure of around £17 million at such establishments. For private prisons payments are made for the contracted service and the health care element is not separately identified. In addition, the Department of Health allocated £419,000 in 2001–02 and over £1.5 million in 2002–03 to NHS commissioners for mental health in-reach teams at prison establishments with young offenders.
	The cost of general health and mental health care for young people resident in local authority secure children's homes and secure training centres is not separately accounted for centrally.

Prisons

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his written answer of 1 April 2003, Official Report, column 669W, on prisons, when the new multifunction prisons will be operational; and what their combined certified normal accommodation capacity will be.

Hilary Benn: Work on the development of multifunctional prisons is still at an early stage. No decision has yet been taken on their location, date of opening or size.

Prisons

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 1 April 2003, Official Report, column 668W, if he will make a statement on the female prisoners aged under 18 in Holloway Prison.

Hilary Benn: Discussions are taking place with the Youth Justice Board about arrangements to remove female prisoners aged under 18 from Holloway. In the meantime, it has been agreed with the Youth Justice Board that Holloway is only to be used for juvenile girls required to be held in or near London under the following circumstances:
	closeness to court for court appearances for 17-year-olds;
	girls who are pregnant and need specialist care that cannot be provided elsewhere;
	girls who require mother and baby facilities that cannot be provided elsewhere;
	exceptional medical considerations, where a girl needs specialist medical care; and
	other exceptional circumstances which must be agreed on a case-by-case basis by both the Youth Justice Board Head of Placements and the Prison Service.
	It is the goal of the Youth Justice Board and the Prison Service to keep this number of girls to a minimum. The Youth Justice Board is providing additional funds for the places at Holloway.
	More generally, the Youth Justice Board has already made it clear that it intends to remove all under 17-year-old girls from Prison Service custody during 2003.

Prisons

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether juvenile girls in prisons who are pregnant are given additional food.

Hilary Benn: The health care provision for pregnant women in prison reflects that available in the community and dietary and medical supplements are made available and prescribed as necessary.

Prisons

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what punishments juvenile girls in prisons who are pregnant may be subjected to.

Hilary Benn: Punishments are applied with proper regard to the individual circumstances of the prisoner, including their medical condition. Pregnancy is one of the factors taken into account when determining the appropriate punishment in an individual case.

Prisons

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether juvenile girls held in New Hall prison who are pregnant have been held in the segregation block as a punishment in the last two years.

Hilary Benn: The relevant records at New Hall are available from 22 January 2002, and show that no juvenile girls have been held in the circumstances described.

Private Finance Initiative

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the expected saving to public funds from the private finance initiative schemes due to become operational in 2003.

David Blunkett: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 10 April 2003, Official Report, column 400W.

Probation Service

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) probation officers and (b) probation service officers there are in each probation service area.

Hilary Benn: The information requested is as follows:
	
		England and Wales—Numbers of staff(15),(16)
		
			  Probation officers(17) Probation service officers 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 138.6 108.6 
			 Bedfordshire 66.5 20.4 
			 Cambridgeshire 66.8 29.2 
			 Cheshire 114.9 65.4 
			 Cumbria 60.1 28.7 
			 Derbyshire 128.6 67.2 
			 Devon and Cornwall 174.6 90.5 
			 Dorset 65.8 44.3 
			 Durham 99.3 72.5 
			 Essex 122.3 100.8 
			 Gloucestershire 65.8 21.5 
			 Hampshire 220.4 137 
			 Hertfordshire 82.2 40.1 
			 Humberside 155.0 61.5 
			 Kent 169.2 127 
			 Lancashire 257.6 135.8 
			 Leicestershire and Rutland 129.4 89.9 
			 Lincolnshire 75.0 52.9 
			 London 1,048.9 331.4 
			 Greater Manchester 445.5 271 
			 Merseyside 272.0 143.7 
			 Norfolk 88.7 61.7 
			 Northamptonshire 69.7 37.1 
			 Northumbria 259.3 95.5 
			 Nottinghamshire 167.9 84.8 
			 Staffordshire 155.7 56 
			 Suffolk 82.1 25.5 
			 Surrey 72.0 61.5 
			 Sussex 132.2 49.6 
			 Teesside 78.5 97.6 
			 Thames Valley 218.3 117.9 
			 Warwickshire 60.8 19.7 
			 West Mercia 135.0 44 
			 West Midlands 474.2 149.6 
			 Wiltshire 56.5 24.5 
			 North Yorkshire 86.0 34.6 
			 South Yorkshire 212.0 125.3 
			 West Yorkshire 373.7 232.8 
			 Dyfed-Powys 49.5. 31.6 
			 Gwent 73.5 37.5 
			 North Wales 67.2 59.0 
			 South Wales 213.1 80.8 
			 Total 7,134.4 3,566.0 
		
	
	(15) Figures shown in whole time equivalent
	(16) Figures as at 31 December 2001. Information for 2002–03 is currently being collected and is as yet unavailable.
	(17) Probation officers includes senior probation officers, senior practitioners, probation officers and trainee probation officers.
	Source:
	Figures taken from RDS Probation Statistics 2001

Property Portfolio

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the estimated value is of the property portfolio held by his Department.

Beverley Hughes: The estimated value of the Home Office's property portfolio shown in the Department's asset registers as at 31 January 2003 was £5,566 million, of which £5,209 million is Prison Estate, £109 million is Probation Estate and with the remainder spread across the rest of the Home Office group.

Regions White Paper

Joyce Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made by his Department towards the aim in the White Paper, "Your Region, Your Choice", of encouraging applicants to public bodies from all parts of England; and what change there has been in the geographical diversity of appointees to NDPBs and other public bodies sponsored by his Department since the publication of the White Paper.

David Blunkett: Public appointments for the Home Department are advertised through a number of wide and varied media. Vacancies are now advertised on the Cabinet Office website, in addition to the Department's own website. National mainstream press, as well as targeted publications aimed at encouraging applicants from ethnic minorities, are also used on a regular basis.
	The Home Office does not compile data on geographical diversity. The information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Regions White Paper

Joyce Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress his Department has made towards the aim in the White Paper, "Your Region, Your Choice", of assessing the balance of staff between the centre and the regions in terms of effective policy design and implementation; and what examples there have been since the publication of the White Paper of the Department deciding between locating new streams of work (a) in and (b) outside London and the south-east.

David Blunkett: The Home Office is committed to ensuring that it has the right balance between the centre and the regions to develop and deliver its aims. The Home Office has developed a substantial regional delivery capacity in Government offices, which are committed to delivering key Home Office Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets. In particular, Crime Reduction teams and Drug Prevention Advisory Service, and dedicated staff working to promote racial equality, community cohesion and active communities are an essential part of our delivery mechanism as well as contributing to policy development. Links between the centre and Government offices are being strengthened by the recruitment of four Crime Reduction Delivery Managers, working to enhance delivery of Home Office PSA targets on a regional and local basis.
	The Immigration and Nationality Directorate already has a substantial regional presence, in particular with large offices in Liverpool and Sheffield. The National Asylum Support Service (NASS) is establishing 12 regional offices in order to strengthen links between NASS, local partnerships and the communities they serve. On 1 April 2003 the Security Industry Authority was established as an Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) with headquarters in London, but it is planning a number of regional offices.
	New work streams have been established outside London. The Criminal Records Bureau was established in Liverpool in 2001. The new Local Criminal Justice Boards will be supported by locally based Performance Officers who will be managed by seven Performance Advisers, mostly based outside London.
	The Home Office will contribute to Sir Michael Lyons' review of departmental structures to examine the scope for relocating civil service and other public service staff from London and the south-east to other parts of the country, to improve cost effectiveness and achieve a better regional balance of Government activity.

Regions White Paper

Joyce Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress the Department has made towards the goal set out in the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice, of (a) ensuring that regional awareness and devolution feature strongly in civil service training and development, (b) increasing the mobility of civil servants between headquarters offices, regional offices, and the Government Offices and (c) encouraging interchange between the civil service and organisations in the regions.

David Blunkett: The information is as follows:
	(a) The Home Office is committed to using regional and local structures to deliver its agenda and is developing a training strategy to integrate an understanding of devolution and regional government issues into existing training programmes. We also have a programme of awareness raising and increasing understanding of the regions and the Government Offices for staff, which included a Regional Co-ordination Unit/Home Office seminar in March 2003.
	(b) Posts within Home Office regional structures are advertised to all staff; posts within Government offices may be trawled within the Department.
	(c) The Home Office has an active interchange programme that covers all sectors of the economy, public, private and voluntary. Interchange with Government Offices and the regions forms part of this programme, and we have recently established a number of short attachments for staff between Government Offices and the Home Office. In addition, a major scheme due to be launched shortly involves encouraging all staff to buddy up with staff in other organisations with whom they work, or who are affected by their work, including Government Offices and local authorities. It will enable staff in both organisations to learn more about one another, and about how they work together in delivering shared aims.

Registered Charities

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many registered charities associated with (a) Christianity, (b) Islam and (c) other religions have humanitarian aid and relief as their primary objective; and how much each group raised by way of charitable donations for the latest year for which figures are available.

Beverley Hughes: This is a matter for the Charity Commission as the Government Department responsible for the regulation of charities in England and Wales. The Chief Charity Commissioner will write to my hon. Friend and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.

Secure Training Centres

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the night sanitation arrangements are in Medway, Rainsbrook and Hassockfield secure training centres.

Hilary Benn: All trainees in these establishments have their own bedrooms with integral sanitation including a toilet, shower and washbasin with hot and cold water. Drinking water is also available in each bedroom.

Secure Training Centres

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff are on duty at night in Medway, Rainsbrook and Hassockfield secure training centres.

Hilary Benn: The minimum staffing levels are as follows.
	
		Rainsbrook STC and Medway STC (each with 76 trainees)
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Duty Directors 1 
			 Duty Operations Manager 1 
			 Training Supervisors 3 
			 Training Supervisors 5 
			 Nigh Assistants 6 
			 Control Room Staff 1 
		
	
	
		Hassockfield STC which has 43 trainees
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Residential Care Manager 1 
			 Nurse 1 
			 Residential Carers 3 
			 Residential Carers/support staff 3 
			 Communications Officer 1

Secure Training Centres

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the arrangements are for parents to visit their children detained in Medway, Rainsbrook and Hassockfield secure training centres.

Hilary Benn: Visits by family members and carers normally take place between 12 noon and 2pm and 4.30pm and 8.30pm on weekdays and between 8.30am and 10.30pm on weekends and Bank Holidays.

Sex Industry

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of (a) men and (b) women known to be working in the sex industry who have (i) reported being raped and (ii) been murdered in the United Kingdom in each of the last five years.

Hilary Benn: The Crime Statistics, published annually, do not identify victims of rape or murder in terms of whether or not they are/were prostitutes.
	The Government takes this issue very seriously. We are currently examining the scope for a review of prostitution and associated issues.
	The Sexual Offences Bill, currently in the House of Lords also introduces new legislation to deal with trafficking for sexual exploitation. Provisions in the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, which came into force last month, are only a stop-gap measure until this more comprehensive legislation is introduced. The new offences in the Bill tackle the movement of people into, within and out of the UK for the purposes of sexual exploitation, and will carry maximum penalties of 14 years imprisonment. Obviously we hope that these offences will reduce the number of people being trafficked for sexual exploitation, and subjected to such violence.

Staff Numbers

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff were employed by his Department in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03.

David Blunkett: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him by my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley, South (Mr. Alexander) on 4 April 2003, Official Report, column 891W, which details the available published information across the Civil Service.
	The Home Office (HO) staffing figures for 1 April 2003 are as follows:
	
		
			 Area Staff(18) 
		
		
			 Core HO (including IND) 16,283 
			 Prison Service 43,414 
			 United Kingdom Passport and Records Agency 2,864 
			 Forensic Science Service 2,604 
			 All 65,165 
		
	
	(18) Budget Support Group figures: permanent full-time equivalent staff

Victim Support

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of volunteers for victim support schemes remained in post one year after completion of basic volunteer training in the last two years.

Beverley Hughes: The Home Office provides an annual grant to the charitable organisation Victim Support to provide support to victims of crime and witnesses through its network of community victim support schemes and witness services.
	Victim Support advise that, at present, they do not collect data in a form that enables this question to be answered directly.
	They advise that the data they collect relating to volunteer turnover shows the percentage of volunteers which left Victim Support within the last year. But this does not show how long the volunteers had remained with the organisation after initial training.
	Data is also collected about the length of time scheme volunteers have been with Victim Support. During 2000–01, 70 per cent. of scheme volunteers had been with Victim Support for over one year. In 2001–02 the percentage was 76 per cent. And in 2001–02, 26 per cent of scheme volunteers had been with the organisation for over five years.

Violence against Women

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures his Department has taken to prevent street violence against women.

Hilary Benn: There is a range of Home Office initiatives designed to address different aspects of violent crime, including street violence.
	Measures which bear particularly on women as victims of street violence include the Action Plan published by the Home Office in July 2002 to implement the recommendations of the joint Inspectorates' report into the investigation and prosecution of rape cases. This sets out both strategic and practical measures to improve reporting and reduce attrition in rape cases. The Steering Group is led by the Home Office with officials from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Lord Chancellor's Department (LCD), both Inspectorates and the Association of Chief Police Officers. More effective criminal justice interventions are designed to have a direct impact on the number of sexual assaults and rapes.
	The street crime initiative announced by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary in March 2002 to combat the rising trend in robbery is benefiting both men and women as victims of violence. The initiative, backed with a £67 million package following the 2002 Budget, is focused in the 10 police force areas that accounted for 83 per cent. of recorded robbery during 2001–02: Avon and Somerset; Greater Manchester; Lancashire; Merseyside; Metropolitan Police; Nottinghamshire; South Yorkshire; Thames Valley; West Midlands; West Yorkshire.

Violence against Women

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures his Department proposes to take to encourage women to report rape and sexual assault.

Hilary Benn: The Home Office published its rape action plan in July 2002. The plan seeks to make a range of improvements, including better victim care, enhanced investigative practices, better case preparation and improved training. The aim is to improve confidence in criminal justice processes and provide better services for victims, so encouraging more victims to report crimes.
	We are working with the Crown Prosecution Service, the Lord Chancellor's Department, as well as the Association of Chief Police Officers and other stakeholders, to ensure that the plan is implemented.
	In addition, the Sexual Offences Bill includes a number of provisions designed to send a clear signal to everyone about the circumstances in which sexual activity will be presumed to be non-consensual. These are designed to give juries the best possible chance of reaching the right decision on what is one of the most difficult issues they can be asked to consider. We hope that this will encourage victims to place their faith in the criminal justice system and to bring more cases to trial.

Violence against Women

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the support services his Department has provided in each of the last five years to women who have been sexually assaulted.

Hilary Benn: The Home Office helps victims of all types of crime, including women victims of sexual assault, through its annual funding of the voluntary organisation Victim Support. Since 1998–99 the annual grant in aid to Victim Support has risen from £12.7 million to £30 million.
	Each year since 1997–98 Victim Support has received between 13,000 and 15,000 referrals for victims of sexual crimes, of whom between 4,000 and 5,000 have been victims of rape. The help offered is both sensitive and confidential, and can include onward referral to other types of support (such as counselling).
	Since April 2001 the Home Office has also been funding the Rape Crisis Federation to enable that organisation to provide core services such as training to its network of some 40 local rape crisis groups.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Back to Work Bonuses

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many individuals have received back to work bonuses in each of the last three years; and at what cost to public funds.

Nick Brown: holding answer 11 April 2003
	Information on the cost of administering Back To Work Bonus is not available separately. Therefore, it is not possible to give the total cost to public funds of Back To Work Bonus. The available information is in the table.
	
		Back To Work Bonus Payments
		
			  Total number of payments(19) Total amountpaid(20) 
			 Period (£thousand) (£million) 
		
		
			 April 2000—March 2001 39,000 15 
			 April 2001—March 2002 35,000 13 
			 April 2002—March 2003 29,000 1135,000 
		
	
	(19) Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand
	(20) Figures are rounded to the nearest million.
	Source:DWP benefit computer systems

Employment Relations Act

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff in his Department have taken time off from work in order to attend to domestic incidents as provided for by the Employment Relations Act 1999

Maria Eagle: Responsibility for authorising and recording such leave is devolved to individual management units, and could be collected only at a disproportionate cost.

Domestic Violence

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to answer of 28 March, Official Report, column 437W, on domestic violence, how many claims were made which (a) were successful and (b) were not successful for community care grants by victims of domestic violence in each year since 1998 for which figures are available.

Malcolm Wicks: The available information is in the table.
	
		Community Care Grant applications made as a result of domestic violence, resulting in awards and refusals, 1998–99 to 2002–03
		
			 Year Awards Refusals 
		
		
			 1998–99 8,400 N/A(21) 
			 1999–2000 8,200 2,300 
			 2000–01 7,500 2,400 
			 2001–02 8,100 2,500 
			 2002–03 8,000 2,400 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. A comparable figure for the number of refusals in 1998–99 is not available because prior to 1999–00 the data were based on a different method of counting.
	2. The information relates only to those applications for community care grants made specifically as a result of domestic violence. Community care grant applications may also have been made for other reasons by other people who have been the victims of domestic violence.
	3. Figures are for initial awards and refusals only and do not include awards following review.
	4. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
	Source:DWP Social Fund Policy Budget Management Information System.

Unemployability Supplement

Jim Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will increase the earnings threshold for dependent spouses in receipt of the unemployability supplement.

Lewis Moonie: I have been asked to reply.
	Additional allowances for dependent spouses are payable under the War Pensions Scheme, which is administered by the Ministry of Defence's Veterans Agency. The allowances were increased with effect from 7 April 2003 as part of the annual uprating exercise and, at the same time, the weekly income limit for dependent spouses of recipients of unemployability supplement was raised to £54.65.

Winter Fuel Payments

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what provision he has made for the winter fuel payment to be claimed by United Kingdom citizens moving from the United Kingdom to a European economic area country shortly before reaching their sixtieth birthday.

Maria Eagle: If a person moves from Great Britain before qualifying for a winter fuel payment, he or she will not be able to receive payments while living in other EEA countries. Whether a person qualifies for a winter fuel payment initially will depend on their personal circumstances, including whether they normally live in Great Britain, during the relevant qualifying week.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Iraq

Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on whether the international debt accumulated by the Ba'ath Party regime in Iraq will continue to apply to a post-war administration.

Paul Boateng: I have been asked to reply.
	A change of government does not in itself affect a country's international debt obligations. However, the UK Government have made it clear they will seek a fair and sustainable solution to Iraq's debt problems.

LORD CHANCELLOR

Enforced Subject Access

Harry Cohen: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will bring forward legislation to activate the offence associated with Enforced Subject Access in the Data Protection Act 1998; and if she will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: Once it is commenced, section 56 of the Data Protection Act 1998 will outlaw enforced subject access. Section 75(4) of the 1998 Act makes commencement of that provision conditional upon sections 112 (which relates to Basic Disclosures), 113 (Standard Disclosures) and 115 (Enhanced Disclosures) of the Police Act 1997 all being in force. As my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has made clear, the priority for the Criminal Records Bureau is to ensure that the demand for Standard and Enhanced Disclosures is fully met. But it remains the aim to introduce Basic Disclosures, and to bring section 56 of the 1998 Act into force, as soon as practicable.

Advertising Campaigns

Mark Prisk: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what his Department's total spending was on advertising and promotional campaigns between April 2002 and March 2003; and what the cost of each campaign was, broken down by costs relating to (a) television, (b) radio and (c) print media.

Rosie Winterton: My Department did not incur any such costs.

Care Reports

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many care reports have been (a) delayed and (b) not delivered to magistrates courts in Sedgemoor and West Somerset in the last 12 months.

Rosie Winterton: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Telephone Directory

Andrew Turner: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when the most recent internal phone directory for the Department was published; how often it is updated; and if he will place a copy in the Library.

Rosie Winterton: The Lord Chancellor's Department maintains a hard copy, internal phone directory, the most recent edition of which was published in October 2002. It is revised at six monthly intervals and the next update is due in April 2003.
	An electronic version is also maintained on the Department's Infonet. This is updated daily and a hard copy can be produced as required.
	As key contact details are already published in the Civil Service Yearbook it is not intended to place copies of the full internal telephone directory in the Libraries of both Houses.

Employment Relations Act

John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many staff in the Lord Chancellor's Department have taken time off from work in order to attend to domestic incidents as provided for by the Employment Relations Act 1999.

Rosie Winterton: My Department has in place a wide range of paid special leave arrangements to assist staff who are faced with a family crisis or a domestic emergency, which exceed the provision of a reasonable period of unpaid leave as specified in the Employment Relations Act 1999.
	Authorisation and monitoring of paid special leave and unpaid emergency family leave has been devolved to line managers and could be collated only at a disproportionate cost.

Land Registration

John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what representations she has received about the Land Registration Fees Order.

Rosie Winterton: No formal representations were received on Land Registry's current Fees Order which came into effect on 1 March 2003. This order, which replaced the Land Registration Fees Order 2001, is expected to reduce Land Registry's fee income in a full year by around 10.5 per cent. in line with efficiency savings and Government targets.

Legal Aid

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department in what geographical areas, and for what areas of law, the legal aid budget for 2002–03 is exhausted; how these budgets compare in real terms with those of the previous three years; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The legal aid budget in 2002–03 and previous years has not been exhausted in any geographical area or area of law. Sufficient funds to meet demand have been provided to ensure that individuals who pass the means and merits tests for civil matters and the interests of justice test for criminal matters have access to appropriate legal services.

Parental Leave

John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many staff in the Department have used their leave entitlement under the Parental Leave Directive since it came into force.

Rosie Winterton: All staff in my Department are eligible for unpaid parental leave under the Parental Leave Directive. Responsibility for authorisation and monitoring of parental leave has been devolved to line managers and could only be collated at a disproportionate cost.
	My Department currently has a number of policies and practices, including statutory entitlement to parental leave, designed to help staff to find a balance between their working life and family responsibilities. These include a range of flexible working options, paid special leave, career breaks and the provision of a staff network for carers.
	The benefits to my Department of family friendly measures include improved staff morale and performance through a better work/life balance, retention of experienced staff by offering flexible work options, improved planning of staff absences and scope to attract a diverse workforce.

Solicitors

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many firms of solicitors in England and Wales held franchises from the Community Legal Service Commission in 1997; and how many held franchises on the most recent date for which figures are available.

Rosie Winterton: It is not possible to provide an answer to the exact question asked.
	On 12 May 1997, 1,820 solicitor offices and other organisations held franchises with the Legal Aid Board (Legal Aid Franchise Quality Assurance Standard (LAFQAS)). Solicitor offices accounted for the majority of these franchised organisations. The Legal Aid Board was replaced by the Legal Services Commission on 1 April 2000.
	The Specialist Quality Mark (SQM) was introduced in April 2002 and replaced LAFQAS. All franchised organisations automatically received the SQM but were required to fulfil additional requirements within a year. As at 7 March 2003, 6,065 solicitor offices and other organisations held the SQM. Solicitor offices accounted for the majority of these organisations.

Timber

Joan Walley: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how much independently certified timber is being used in the refurbishment of Clive House; and what proportion of the total timber purchased for this refurbishment this represents.

Rosie Winterton: 3.47 m 3 of independently certified carcassing timber and 94 m 2 of independently certified plywood are being used in the refurbishment of Clive House: 100 per cent. of the timber purchased.

Timber

Joan Walley: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what refurbishment is being undertaken at Clive House; how much timber is being used for this refurbishment and for what purpose; which companies are supplying the timber for this refurbishment; and when the refurbishment is due to be completed.

Rosie Winterton: Clive House is being refurbished to provide office accommodation for the Lord Chancellor's Department, necessitated as a result of expiring leases on existing accommodation. The building is being stripped to the core and new windows, roof, plant, lifts, cabling and plumbing being installed. 3.47 m 3 of carcassing timber and 94 m 2 of plywood are being used to manufacture 350 new window frames, kitchen base units, reception desk, coat cupboards, bench unit, vanity units, CCTV monitor enclosure and joinery suites. Sampsons and Brown & Carroll are supplying the timber. The refurbishment is due for completion in February 2004.

HEALTH

Alcoholic Beverages

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the implications for (a) people allergic to alcohol and (b) recovering alcoholics of outlets selling non-alcoholic beverages which contain small traces of alcohol.

Hazel Blears: People with allergies and recovering alcoholics, or those who are particularly sensitive to the effects of alcohol, will be aware of their individual needs and will act accordingly to ensure their well being. Additionally, they will be able to look to the labelling to ensure they are able to consume any particular labelled product.
	All alcoholic drinks are required by law to have the amount of alcohol they contain marked on the drink container. Any alcoholic drink containing 0.5 per cent. or under will be covered by the labelling regulations. The Food Labelling Regulations 1996 (as amended) require the majority of foods, including non-alcoholic drinks, to list their ingredients. Consequently, if alcohol is an ingredient, this will be on the label of the product. However, alcohol may also be used as a solvent for some flavouring. In this case, it will be present in the final food at low levels. Alcohol may be inadvertently present, for example, due to the fermentation which occurs when fruit juice is opened and stored.

Assistive Technology

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding his Department has made available for research into the use and benefits of assistive technology in each of the last six years.

Hazel Blears: The Department does not support major programmes of research into the use and benefits of assistive technology. However, in accordance with Section 22 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970, annual reports on assistive technology research and development have been laid before Parliament, most recently in July 2002. Copies are available in the Library, and also on the Department's website at www.doh.gov.uk/research. The reports describe the wide range of Government funded projects supporting the development, introduction and evaluation of assistive technology.

Babies' Diet

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to educate new mothers on the importance of a nutrient-rich diet for new babies.

Hazel Blears: The Department of Health produces guidance on infant feeding, which includes specific advice on breastfeeding and weaning.
	The guidance is made directly available to parents through national initiatives such as the Welfare Food Scheme, the Sure Start Maternity Grant and the national health service "Birth to Five" book.
	Health professionals also play a key role in disseminating guidance and directly advising parents.
	Since 1993, the Department has also funded the National Breastfeeding Awareness Week, which aims to raise awareness among health professionals and the general public.

Blood

Dai Havard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the risk of blood stocks becoming contaminated from blood donated from those who have received blood transfusions in the last 10 years;
	(2)  if he will publish the Microbiological Safety of Blood and Tissues findings from their consideration of whether recipients of blood and tissue should be excluded from donating blood.

Hazel Blears: There is no evidence world wide that CJD or vCJD has ever been transmitted through blood or blood products. However, the possibility of the theoretical risk cannot be ruled out.
	The Government's Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Blood and Tissues (MSBT) has considered whether all blood transfusion recipients should be excluded from donating blood and has advised that this policy would have a damaging impact on blood supplies. There are therefore no plans to introduce this measure although we will continue to keep it under review. MSBT is continuing to consider possible further measures to reduce the theoretical risk of vCJD through blood transfusion and the public summaries and minutes of meetings of this Committee will be published on the Department of Health's website shortly.

Bottled Water

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent checks have been carried out on bottled water to determine levels of (a) pesticides, (b) nitrates and (c) endocrine disrupting chemicals; and if she will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: All bottled water sold in the United Kingdom must comply with the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water Regulations 1999. Compliance with these Regulations is monitored by local authorities. Bottled waters other than natural mineral waters have to meet limits for chemical and microbiological parameters, and are subject to the same sampling regime (based on volume of water) as water from public supplies. Natural mineral waters must come from a recognised source. In order for recognition to be granted the source must be protected from all risk of pollution. After recognition is granted, local authorities monitor the source to ensure that requirements for recognition continue to be met.
	The Government's programme of surveys for chemicals in food includes tests on bottled water as appropriate. The most recent tests for pesticides were in 2000, when no traces of pesticide residues were found in 50 samples of bottled water. During the last five years the programme has not included any tests on bottled waters for nitrates or for endocrine disruptors (other than those included in the pesticide survey).

Breast Cancer

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the current waiting time is for non-urgent referrals for suspected breast cancer.

Hazel Blears: Data on the waiting time for non-urgent referrals for suspected breast cancer are not collected centrally. Referral guidelines have been issued to general practitioners to help them refer suspected cancers, including breast cancer, appropriately within the two-week outpatient cancer waiting time standard. A maximum waiting time of one month from diagnosis to first treatment was introduced for all cases of breast cancer from December 2001. In the last quarter (October to December 2002) 96.5 per cent. of women received treatment within one month of diagnosis with breast cancer.

Bush Meat

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action the Food Standards Agency has taken since February in response to the use of dangerous chemicals to kill bushmeat in West Africa prior to its illegal importation into the United Kingdom.

Hazel Blears: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is aware of the allegations that this practice takes place, however they have no evidence to suggest that such meat has been brought into the country. However, the FSA advice is that illegally imported meat such as bushmeat which may be contaminated with dangerous chemicals, will have avoided official controls at its country of origin and on entry to the European Union designed to verify compliance with food safety standards and should not be consumed. In response to concerns about illegal imports of bushmeat and other foods, the FSA has, since February, been drawing up a work programme to take forward a step change in the delivery and co-ordination of local authority enforcement of imported food controls at seaports, airports and at 'inland' UK local authorities.
	The FSA is also working closely with other Government Departments and welcomes action being taken by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which has responsibility for measures against illegal imports of all meat and other animal products, to tackle illegal imports. Defra has published, on 25 March 2003, a draft update of the Government action plan for 2003–04.
	Her Majesty's Customs and Excise will take responsibility for anti-smuggling measures including illegal imports of bushmeat, at seaports and airports from 11 April 2003 in England.

Cancer Services

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether (a) the maximum one-month waiting time from diagnosis to treatment for breast cancer and (b) the maximum two-month waiting time for treatment following an urgent referral as set out in the Cancer Plan have been achieved.

Hazel Blears: Very good performance continues to be achieved with 96.5 per cent. of women receiving their first treatment within one month of diagnosis with breast cancer in the last quarter (October to December 2002). The target of two months from urgent referral to first treatment was introduced from December 2002 and data on performance of this target will be published later in the year.

Cancer Services

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of how many extra (a) diagnostic radiographers and (b) radiologists are needed to deal with current and future workloads.

Hazel Blears: The NHS Cancer Plan sets targets to increase the cancer workforce by 2006. For radiologists, the forecast is for the number to rise by 260, an increase of 17 per cent. For diagnostic radiographers, the forecast is for the number to rise by 314, an increase of 4 per cent. The National Cancer Director works closely with cancer networks, professional organisations and workforce development confederations to ensure that national decisions about workforce planning reflect the needs of the service.

Cancer Services

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many breast cancer patients have benefited from drugs appraised by NICE since its establishment;
	(2)  what reports he has received on the implementation of guidance for breast cancer drugs appraised by NICE.

Hazel Blears: Last December, Roche, the manufacturers of trastuzumab (Herceptin) wrote to the Department presenting figures on the availability of this drug post the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) appraisal. The Department has asked Roche to provide the information broken down by cancer network. Once these data have been received, we will consider the best course of action to take.
	If fully implemented, NICE estimates that the guidance they have issued on the use of paclitaxel, docetaxel, trastuzumab and vinorelbine for breast cancer could impact on around 10,000 women in England and Wales.

Cancer Services

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  whether the results of the tracking exercise for earmarked cancer funds will be used to determine funding priorities in cancer services in the future;
	(2)  how many strategic health authorities have responded to the request for information under the exceptional tracking exercise for cancer funds;
	(3)  whether the exceptional tracking exercise for earmarked cancer funds will be carried out on an annual basis;
	(4)  whether the information collated from each strategic health authority under the exceptional tracking exercise will be published on (a) an authority-by-authority basis and (b) a regional basis;
	(5)  whether the results of the exceptional tracking exercise into cancer funding will be published in full; and how and where the results of the exercise will be published;
	(6)  whether the results of the tracking exercise into cancer funding will show how much extra money has been spent on (a) cancer drugs, (b) new staff for cancer services and (c) new cancer services since the publication of the Cancer Plan in 2000;
	(7)  when the exceptional tracking exercise for earmarked cancer funds will be published.

Hazel Blears: We asked strategic health authorities (SHAs), as part of an exceptional exercise, to identify total additional investment in cancer services in 2001–02 and 2002–03 with a sub-total for cancer drugs, and supporting information on new service developments.
	We intend to publish headline national and cancer network level figures on cancer investment on the Department's website in late spring. All 28 SHAs have responded to the exercise. At a local level this exercise will inform cancer networks' discussions with their stakeholders on plans for future investment, to further improve patient care.
	It is our policy, within the framework set out in the NHS Plan and the "Shifting the balance of power" initiative, to devolve funding decisions to the front line. It is now for primary care trusts in partnership with strategic health authorities and other local stakeholders to determine how best to use their funds to meet national priorities, as laid out in the planning and priorities framework and to meet local priorities for improving health, tackling health inequalities and modernising services, based on the specialised knowledge they have of the local community.
	We are devolving power from the centre to locally run services, to allow the freedom to innovate and improve care for patients. The increased resources that we have made available and will continue to make available to support the implementation of the Cancer Plan will move to the national health service frontline. Primary care trusts will have freedom to decide where national health service resources are best spent but they will need to account publicly for how they have used resources against the test of high clinical standards and good value for money.

Cardiovascular Disease

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the cost of male cardiovascular disease to the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: While statistics are held on costs of individual treatments and procedures carried out by national health service providers, none are held relating to costs to the NHS by gender of specific diseases or conditions.
	The Government strategy for improving health overall includes a range of activities which will impact on the health of men, including action to prevent and treat coronary heart disease and stroke.

Continence

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what primary care trusts have specialist continence services in place, in line with the good practice in continence service guidelines.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 11 April 2003
	We do not collect this information centrally. The national service framework for older people includes a milestone that, by April 2004, all local health and social care systems should have established an integrated continence service.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he intends to write to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to pharmacy regulations, following correspondence from that right hon. Member with regard to Ms I. Hamid, referred to him on or about 10 March from the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.

Alan Milburn: A reply was sent to my right hon. Friend on 16 April.

Dietary Advice

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) product ranges and (b) retailers carry the Five-A-Day logo; and if he will list the organisations that have refused to use it.

Hazel Blears: Nineteen companies have been licensed to reproduce the Five-A-Day logo and/or portion indicator on fruit and/or vegetable products, nine of which licences are for multiple product ranges.
	Three companies that retail fruit and vegetables nationwide and 10 local retailers have been licensed to reproduce the logo either on products or on generic promotional materials.
	There is no process for organisations formally to inform the Department if they do not intend to apply for a licence to use the logo. Several organisations have indicated informally that they are deferring an application until the licensing criteria are extended to cover composite foods.

Ectopic Pregnancy

Si�n Simon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice the Chief Medical Officer has provided on (a) the risk among teenage girls of suffering an ectopic pregnancy when prescribed the morning after pill and (b) whether the risks are different for (i) young girls and (ii) adult women.

Hazel Blears: Because Levonelle effectively prevents pregnancy, the total number of pregnancies, both intrauterine and ectopic, that develop after failure of Levonelle treatment is likely to be very small.
	Information about the possibility of ectopic pregnancy in association with failure of the morning-after pill or emergency contraceptive, Levonelle, was provided in the January 2003 edition of the Chief Medical Officer's (CMO) newsletter, CMO Update, following review of the issue by the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM). This information related to all women who use Levonelle, regardless of age. The main purpose of the article in CMO Update was to remind healthcare professionals of the possibility of ectopic pregnancy after treatment with Levonelle and to be vigilant for signs of this condition in all women who use it.
	The Medicines and Healthcare products regulatory agency has not received any reports through the Yellow Card Scheme of ectopic pregnancy in women below the age of 20 years who have taken Levonelle. It is generally accepted that the risk of developing an ectopic pregnancy is increased in women above the age of 35 years.
	Since first receiving its marketing authorisation, Levonelle product information for healthcare professionals and women has included warnings about the possibility of contraception failure leading to either intra-uterine or, more rarely, ectopic pregnancy. In line with CSM advice the warnings regarding ectopic pregnancy are being strengthened.

Enuresis

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will include in the Children's National Service Framework the minimum standards from the Enuresis Resource and Information Centre for the treatment and management of enuresis;
	(2)  whether the treatment and management of enuresis and paediatric continence will be specifically mentioned in the Children's National Service Framework.

Jacqui Smith: holding answers 11 April 2003
	The Children's NSF will set out standards covering a broad range of services, including the management of common childhood conditions. While few specific conditions will be covered, the standards are likely to cover what support should be available to children and their parents in managing a wide range of conditions and problems, including enuresis. This will emphasise the promotion of evidence-based clinical guidelines and a number of examples of good practice in a range of different areas.

Foundation Hospitals

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether under Clause 15 of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill organisations other than NHS trusts who gain foundation hospital status will be limited as to the percentage of private patients they treat in their first year of foundation hospital status; and whether they will be able to treat the same percentage in each year thereafter.

John Hutton: Clause 15 of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill will not apply to organisations other than national health service trusts that become NHS foundation trusts because they will not have been major providers of NHS services in the year prior to gaining foundation status. However, they will have to work according to the same principal purpose as any other foundation trust and the Regulator will have discretion to apply particular terms of authorisation in order to ensure that they do not act outside that purpose.

Foundation Hospitals

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how hospitals in less prosperous areas will be empowered by the Secretary of State to obtain investment levels equivalent to those of Foundation Hospitals in more prosperous areas which sell non protected assets at high value.

John Hutton: holding answer 10 April 2003
	In the future, all providers of national health service care will be paid at the national tariff, which will allow them to formulate their investment plans. In deciding their investment plans, the benefits asset rich trusts may gain from reconfiguration and recycling of proceeds from disposals will be off-set by additional public dividend capital (PDC) dividends that they will be expected to pay on their more expensive asset base. Trusts with a less valuable asset base will carry a lower PDC burden and will therefore be able to support a higher level of new borrowing.
	Strategic capital, central capital and the private finance initiative will continue to be available to effect significant change in the NHS estate and clinical need will be one of the factors considered when projects are being prioritised.

Foundation Hospitals

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on whether Foundation Hospital borrowing, on the basis of income from trading it may establish with its non-protected assets, will be off the public sector borrowing requirement.

John Hutton: holding answer 10 April 2003
	Classification in the national accounts is a matter for the Office for National Statistics.

Foundation Hospitals

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the annual costs to the trust boards of foundations hospitals of (a) maintaining and operating their lists of members and (b) conducting elections to the boards of foundation hospitals.

John Hutton: The costs of setting up the new governance arrangements for national health service foundation trusts will depend on the detail of the constitutional arrangements that apply in each case. NHS foundation trusts will be expected to show these costs in their annual accounts. The Department of Health will work with, and offer practical support to, second stage applicants for NHS foundation trust status to help them prepare for implementation of their new governance arrangements.

Gulf War

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health professionals have been deployed to the Gulf; and from which NHS hospital trusts.

John Hutton: As at 31 March 2003, 713 regular medical personnel serving in the Ministry of Defence (MOD) hospital units have been deployed to the Gulf region in support of military action against Iraq. These MOD hospital units are located within National Health Service hospitals at Portsmouth, Plymouth, South Tees, Frimley Park and Peterborough as well as the Royal College for Defence Medicine at University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust. In addition, some 760 medical reservists, some of whom would be NHS staff, had also been similarly deployed.
	Deployments from the MOD hospital units are as follows:
	
		
			 MOD Hospitals Number 
		
		
			 Royal Hospital Haslar (Portsmouth Hospitals) 273 
			 Peterborough MDHU 69 
			 Derriford MDHU (Plymouth Hospitals) 102 
			 Northallerton MDHU (South Tees) 91 
			 Frimley Park MDHU 114 
			 Royal College for Defence Medicine: (University Hospital, Birmingham) 64 
			 Total 713 
		
	
	The Department is in the process of collating figures for reservists, including health professionals working in NHS trusts who have deployed to the Gulf as part of our ongoing work with MOD to ensure that the impact on the NHS of these deployments is kept to a minimum.

Human Embryos

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what plans he has to grant public access to information regarding applications to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority for licences to create human embryos for research purposes prior to the granting of any such licences;
	(2)  whether Professor Ian Wilmut of the Roslin Institute, Edinburgh, has been granted a licence by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority for the creation of human embryos by parthenogenesis;
	(3)  how many licences for the creation of human embryos by cell nuclear replacement have been granted by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to date; to whom; and for what purpose.

Hazel Blears: No licences for research involving the creation of human embryos by cell nuclear replacement or parthenogenesis have yet been issued by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).
	For reasons of confidentiality, the HFEA does not release the details of research licence applications while under consideration. Details of research licences are made available by the HFEA once a licence is granted.

Infant Mortality

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish his response to the Confidential Enquiry into stillbirths and deaths in infancy, released on 24 March; and what measures his Department is taking to implement the report's recommendations.

Jacqui Smith: We welcome the latest report of the Confidential Enquiry into Stillbirths and Deaths in Infancy (CESDI). It is not usual Government practice to publish a formal response to reports of confidential inquiries but we examine the findings of all reports very carefully and take action as appropriate. We note particularly that the report published on 24 March underlines the significant improvements that have taken place in care leading to twice as many premature babies being saved than was the case 15 years ago. CESDI rightly pays tribute to the work and dedication of the antenatal and neonatal intensive care staff who continue to improve outcomes for these smallest and most vulnerable of babies.
	However, it is right that efforts continue to improve the level of care further in this area. Clinical guidelines have now been issued by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) on the use of electronic fetal monitoring, the induction of labour and the routine use of Anti-D prophylaxis for rhesus negative pregnant women. Additional guidelines are due to be published later this year on antenatal care, including antenatal screening, and the use of caesarean section. We have recently commissioned NICE to develop further guidelines on intrapartum care (delivery), and postnatal care. NICE'S work will enhance and support the national service framework for children, young people and maternity services, which will set national standards of care for antenatal, intrapartum and post natal services.
	CESDI advises the introduction of national standards to ensure appropriate referral and transfer arrangements in neonatal intensive care. The Department established an expert working group to advise on the most effective ways of caring for very sick and premature newborn babies and the delivery of these services. The group's conclusions were published on 10 April 2003 for wider consultation and are available on www.doh.gov.uk/nsf/neonatal.htm. In order to help implement the outcome of the review and consultation, we are making available 20 million capital funding this year, and additional revenue funding of 12 million this year, 19.8 million next year, increasing to 20 million in 200506.
	We have also established the National Patient Safety Agency to improve the safety of national health service patient care, by promoting an open and fair culture and by introducing a national reporting and learning system for adverse events, including those involving mothers and their babies. The system will be rolled out across the NHS from summer 2003. Using data from the reporting system and other sources, the Agency will identify priorities to address areas of known risk to patients and develop solutions to prevent errors being repeated. The Agency plans to develop a patient safety programme in obstetrics and gynaecology and is in the process of appointing a specialist clinical adviser, jointly with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, to develop this work.
	The CESDI report pointed to a shortfall in specialist pathology services. We fully accept that specialist paediatric pathologists are best placed to perform all post mortem examinations on preterm infants, where resources allowand we are very aware of the challenges facing NHS pathology services, including specific subspecialties such as paediatric pathology. There is no quick and easy solution: it takes time to train new doctors and for them to gain the relevant experience. However, the Department is committed to addressing these staffing difficulties and is taking action to increase the number of pathologists overall, to fund specific projects to support paediatric pathology in the short-term, including funding Conversion Fellowships in paediatric pathology, and to ensure the long-term sustainability of the service.

Mental Health

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans to abolish the Mental Health Act Commission; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: The Government is committed to reforming the Mental Health Act 1983 and a Bill will be introduced as soon as Parliamentary time allows. The new legislation will provide for the abolition of the Mental Health Act Commission. As proposed in the Mental Health Bill Consultation Document, published in June 2002, responsibility for scrutinising the use of the compulsory powers in the Mental Health Bill will be given to the planned new health care inspectorate, the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection.
	We believe these new arrangements will have several advantages for patients subject to compulsory powers. Concerns about all aspects of a patient's carelegal issues, clinical quality, cleanliness and food standardswill be dealt with by one body. As a larger, more joined-up organisation, the new Commission will have greater influence and will be equipped to tackle identified problems in a co-ordinated way. In this way, it will build on the very good work being done by the Mental Health Act Commission.

Mental Health

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  pursuant to the oral answer given by the Under-Secretary of State for Health to the hon. Member for Hendon, 18 March 2003, Official Report, column 739, on mental health (Barnet), what effect the reprovision of the acute in-patient service at Barnet will have regarding meeting the Government's targets on mental health single sex hospital accommodation;
	(2)  whether the temporary ward at Edgware hospital meets the Government's criteria for single sex accommodation for mental health patients.

John Hutton: The temporary ward at Edgware Hospital meets the Government's criteria for single sex accommodation for mental health patients. The reprovision of the acute in-patient service at Barnet will also be fully compliant with the Government's targets on mental health single sex hospital accommodation.

Mental Health

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total expenditure per head for mental health services in each primary care trust was in 200203.

Jacqui Smith: The figures for expenditure for 200203 are not yet available. Information on the expenditure per head on mental illness by primary care trusts for 200001 and 200102 have been placed in the Library.
	The data related to the commissioning by PCTs of secondary mental illness only; the Department of Health does not have data for primary expenditure in this area.
	There are considerable variations in expenditure as different primary care trusts have differing commissioning arrangements for mental illness. Also, some primary care trusts may commission on behalf of others hence increasing their apparent spend. Figures between different primary care trusts and between different years are not therefore directly comparable.

Nebulisers

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether nebulisers are available on prescription for patients with chronic lung disease.

Hazel Blears: We have no plans to make nebulisers available on prescription. It has been a long-standing policy that when the national health service supplies items of equipment, such as nebulisers, it would be most appropriate for them to be provided to patients on loan from primary care trusts and NHS trusts. We think that it is most appropriate for them to remain as NHS property to monitor their usage and ensure that NHS resources are used most effectively.

NHS Trusts

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for each NHS trust in Great Britain the (a) total budget and (b) amount of budget deficit in each year since 1997 for which figures are available.

John Hutton: holding answer 25 March 200
	I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) on 11 March 2003, Official Report, column 242W, and also to the response my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Mr. Lammy) gave the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling) on 5 March 2003, Official Report, column 1115W.

Nurses

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the aggregate number was of agencies used by NHS trusts to recruit nurses in each year since 199798;
	(2)  which agencies were used by NHS trusts to recruit nurses in 200203.

John Hutton: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 14 April 2003, Official Report, column 616W.

Occupational Therapists

Patsy Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many occupational therapists have been recruited in the last three years; and if he will make a statement on the work of his Department in encouraging applications.

John Hutton: Between September 1999 and 2001, there was a net increase in the number of occupational therapists employed in the national health service of 1250, 10 per cent.
	The Government have put in place a range of recruitment initiatives to facilitate the NHS meeting the challenging targets set out in the NHS Plan and Delivering the NHS Plan. Initiatives in place to encourage recruitment, retention and return into the allied health professions, including occupational therapy, includes media campaigns, conferences and specifically for occupational therapy, the 'Positively Diverse' campaign to bring people with disabilities into the profession.

Overseas Health Treatment

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS patients were treated in hospitals outside the United Kingdom but within the EU in (a) 2001 and (b) 2002, for (i) hip joint replacements, (ii) knee joint replacements, (iii) coronary artery bypass grafts and (iv) cardiac surgical procedures.

John Hutton: No patients were treated abroad in 2001. In 2002, 191 patients were referred abroad for orthopaedic procedures, mainly major joint replacements. Overseas referrals for cardiac procedures will commence in 2003.

Prisoners of War (Health Care)

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will list the NHS hospitals that have been designated as suitable places to treat Iraqi prisoners of war in need of health care;
	(2)  if he will list the NHS hospitals that have drawn up contingency plans for dealing with prisoners of war in need of health care; and whether such plans will be placed in the public domain.

John Hutton: In being ready to receive casualties from the Gulf our approach has been to give the national health service maximum local freedom to respond to the needs of those who return. While it is not the intention to bring prisoners of war back to this country, the NHS would be able to cope if the need arose. Which hospital would be involved would depend on local operational circumstances at the time.

Private Patients

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) ordinary private patient admissions in finished consultant episodes and (b) private patient day cases in the NHS there were in (i) England and (ii) each NHS region in 200102.

John Hutton: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		Private patients treated in NHS hospital trusts in England 200102 by regional office of treatment, finished consultant episodes (FCEs)
		
			 Regional office Ordinary admissions (FCEs) Day cases (FCEs) 
		
		
			 Eastern 6,545 4,889 
			 London 26,421 17,218 
			 Northern and Yorkshire 5,312 4,345 
			 North West 6,029 5,039 
			 South East 12,644 7,318 
			 South West 6,210 5,495 
			 Trent 2,735 2,208 
			 West Midlands 4,883 4,422 
			 England Total 70,779 50,934 
		
	
	Notes:
	An FCE is defined as a period of patient care under one consultant in one health care provider. The figures do not represent the number of patients, as one person may have several episodes within the year. Figures in this table have not yet been adjusted for shortfalls in data.
	Source:
	Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health

Hospitals (Avon)

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the consultants who have been employed on the franchising of Royal United Hospital, Bath and Bristol Royal Infirmary (RUH and BRI) what estimate he has made of (a) official and (b) managerial man hours spent on the proposed franchising of RUH and BRI; what the latest estimate is of the cost to public funds of the proposed franchising of RUH and BRI; and if he will make a statement on the future of the Royal United Hospital, Bath.

Hazel Blears: Work on franchising at the Royal United Hospitals Bath national health service trust and United Bristol Teaching Hospital NHS trust has been progressing over the last three months. This work has been informed by specialist legal and financial advice commissioned by Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority (SHA) at an expected cost of approximately 119,000.
	It has become clear that the issues facing the local health community require a system wide approach, rather than looking for solutions within individual NHS organisations. The SHA has concluded that given the scale of the problemsand the management action required to achieve recoverythe SHA will be taking a much more direct role in the overall management of the two trusts than would normally be the case. This decision was based in part on the work carried out over the last three months.
	Management time is not recorded by task undertaken and it is therefore not possible to differentiate the amount of time allocated to this task in the SHA.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice his Department issues to people who suspect that they have been infected by severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Hazel Blears: Advice is issued to the public via travel and web based information. It has described the symptoms of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and advises people to seek medical attention should they show signs of or a combination of these symptoms while in a SARS affected area or within 10 days of being in an affected area.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the epidemiology of the virus which produces severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Hazel Blears: The Central Public Health Laboratory (CPHL) is one of 11 laboratories in nine countries working together to investigate the cause of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Two different viruses have been identified in a number of laboratories within the network in cases of SARS: corona viruses and metapneumoviruses. The discovery of these viruses in association with SARS enables work to be developed on tests which detect the presence of these viruses in patients. CPHL are involved in developing and preparing diagnostic tests for both viruses.

Sexual Assault

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 18 March 2003, Official Report, column 668W, on sexual assault, if he will issue accident and emergency departments with guidelines on the referral of sexual assault victims.

Hazel Blears: The Home Office held a seminar on 4 April, at which the Department of Health was represented, to consider the structure and nature of services that currently exist for victims of sexual assault. We will consider with the Home Office how to take these complex issues forward, including whether guidance to the national health service on the management of victims of sexual assault is necessary.

St. Ebba's Hospital

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the current state of discussions is about the future of St. Ebba's Hospital.

Hazel Blears: There have been several meetings involving the Department, the Patient  Relatives Group (PARG), the Surrey Learning Disability Partnership Board, the relevant health authority (HAs) and trusts to discuss the future of St. Ebba's Hospital.
	PARG were asked to produce a preliminary feasibility study to reflect the number of residents that a village community could meet, the range of facilities required and the financial robustness of the proposal. The HA and the Surrey Learning Disability Partnership Board have considered the study and have recently forwarded their recommendations to the Department.
	Ministers are currently considering these recommendations and will make a decision shortly.

Stroke Treatment

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients at Eastbourne district general hospital were treated for strokes for each year since 1992; and what their survival rates were.

Hazel Blears: Information about patients treated for strokes by individual hospitals and their survival rates is not collected centrally.
	The national service framework (NSF) for older people, published in March 2001, requires all general hospitals that care for people with stroke to have by April 2004, a specialised stroke service, as described in the NSF stroke service model.
	Implementation of specialist stroke services is required in Improvement, Expansion and Reform, the Priorities and Planning Framework for 20036. This makes clear that implementation of the older people's NSF is a top priority, and that the 2004 milestone around specialist stroke services is a key target.

Teenage Cancer Treatment

Patsy Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are being taken to reduce the rate of (a) misdiagnosis and (b) late diagnosis among teenage cancer patients.

Hazel Blears: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is in the process of updating the Department of Health's referral guidelines for suspected cancer to help general practitioners identify those patients who are most likely to have cancer and therefore require urgent assessment by a specialist. This will cover teenage cancers.
	NICE is also producing Improving Outcomes guidance for child and adolescent cancers to ensure services for these patients are capable of achieving consistently good outcomes.
	In addition, we are providing funding through the National Cancer Research Network to enable more teenage cancer patients to enter trials of the latest treatments.

Teenage Cancer Treatment

Patsy Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list those constituencies which (a) have a Teenage Cancer Trust Unit and (b) do not have a Teenage Cancer Trust Unit.

Hazel Blears: We are aware of eight teenage cancer trust units operating in the national health service. They are situated in the following constituencies: Cities of London and Westminster; Holborn and St. Pancras; Birmingham Edgbaston; Manchester Withington; Sheffield Hallam; Leeds Central; Newcastle-upon-Tyne Central; and Liverpool Wavertree. Further teenage cancer trust units are under development.

Teenage Cancer Treatment

Patsy Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in which hospitals teenagers with cancer are not treated on wards alongside (a) children and (b) older people.

Hazel Blears: No statistics are available centrally which allow us to show which hospitals treat teenager cancer patients alongside children and which treat them alongside older people.

Tobacco

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what budget he has provided for the establishment of local tobacco control alliances.

Hazel Blears: The Cancer Plan committed up to 1 million a year over three years (200003) to support the establishment and operation of the alliances. For the first year, core funds were provided to begin building these alliances, the second year saw a mixture of core funding and project or operational funds, with the last year (200203) providing only project work funds.
	The total funds to support local alliance projects for the year 200203 was 751,277 and was distributed between September 2002 and January 2003. Further funds were used to provide a national co-ordinator and regular update meetings. Funding arrangements for 200304 are currently being finalised.

Tuberculosis

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he last visited a local health authority in London to see TB screening and prevention services.

Hazel Blears: Departmental officials visited the Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham Tuberculosis team to observe TB screening of the homeless on 22 and 29 July 2002.
	Officials also visited the mobile screening unit during its screening project/pilot in London on 21 November 2002.

Working Hours

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what policy on (a) core hours and (b) flexible working hours is operated by his Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which his Department is responsible.

John Hutton: The working day is divided into band widths and core times. In the Department of Health these are:
	
		
			  
		
		
			 Starting bandwidths 07.0010.00 
			 Morning core time 10.0012.00 
			 Lunchtime band widths 12.0014.00 
			 Afternoon core time 14.0015.30 
			 Finishing band widths 15.3019.00 
		
	
	Core time is the busiest part of the day when all staff are supposed to be at work. Absence during core time can only be with line management permission or for sickness or for some other unexpected reason which prevents someone being at work.These arrangements also apply to most of the Department's agencies and non-departmental bodies. Those with varying bandwidths and core times to suit their local operational needs, are listed as follows.
	The NHS Pensions Agency have the following bandwidths which were agreed with local Trades Unions (TUS):
	
		
			  
		
		
			 Starting bandwidth 07.0009.30 
			 Morning core time 09.3012.00 
			 Lunchtime bandwidth 12.0014.00 
			 Afternoon core time 14.0015.00 
			 Finishing bandwidth 15.0019.00 
		
	
	The National Care Standards Commissionflexi-time is available to administrative support staff on salary bands 15 inclusive, only with line manager's approval. The following bandwidths apply:
	
		
			  
		
		
			 Starting bandwidth 08.0009.30 
			 Morning core time 09.3012.00 
			 Lunchtime bandwidth 12.0014.00 
			 Afternoon core time 14.0016.00 
			 Finishing bandwidth 16.0018.00 
		
	
	For other groups of staff that are not covered by the flexi-time scheme identified above, the commission supports the process of flexible working without the use of a formalised scheme.
	The National Radiological Protection Board operate a similar flexible working hours scheme:
	
		
			 MondaysThursdays Fridays 
		
		
			 Morning core time 09.3011.45 09.3011.45 
			 Afternoon core time 14.0016.00 14.0015.30 
		
	
	Heads of Departments and Directorates do not participate.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Nuclear Physics Research

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the level of ISIS funding and the projects it has funded in 200203.

Patricia Hewitt: In 20023 the ISIS facility, owned and operated by CCLRC, received 21,379,000 to fund its operations and the services it provides to its research users. This funding was provided from the following sources:
	
		
			  000 
		
		
			 EPSRC 19,126 
			 BBSRC 228 
			 NERC 100 
			 Overseas Partners: 1,650 
			 EU Framework Programme 6 275 
		
	
	In addition ISIS was active in the following major, multi-year, development projects:
	
		000
		
			 Project Overall value Spent in FY 0203 Internationalinvolvement 
		
		
			 2nd harmonic upgrade 7,000 2,210 USA, Japan 
			 MERLIN 3,852 350 USA 
			 GEM 3,563 335 Japan 
			 ENGIN-X 2,510 803  
			 SXD 956 146  
			 He3 Spin Filters 689 160 FP5 partnership 
			 Target Station 2 preparation 7,100 1,020  
			 Total 25,670 5,024

National Minimum Wage

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the extra costs imposed on local authorities in the provision of (a) social services and (b) residential long-term care as a result of the increase in the national minimum wage.

Alan Johnson: The independent Low Pay Commission looked at this issue in their recent Report to the Government. 1
	They noted,
	The impact of the uprating on particular groups of workers and wage structures in local Government has also been minimal. Evidence from the Employers' Organisation for local government stated our national pay negotiations and spinal column point framework mean that event hose on the lowest pay point are paid above the NMW.
	1 'Building on Success' released March 2003 p.69

Animal Welfare

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will press for EU action to prohibit the import of seal products where these have been obtained through the clubbing to death of seals.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 7 April 2003
	EU Directive (83/129/EEC) prohibits imports of skins from seal pups and breeding mothers of certain species of seal. By protecting these sections of the seal population, the ban aims to protect overall numbers. The EU, with the strong support of the UK, continues to press for animal welfare concerns to be recognised as legitimate grounds for taking trade measures under WTO rules.

Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the funding of the UK Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary.

Brian Wilson: The funding of the UKAEA Constabulary is paid by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, BNFL plc and URENCO Ltd. The Police Authority sets the annual budget for the Constabulary. Expenditure in financial year 200102 amounted to 23,381,000. The figure of expenditure for the year just ended is not yet available.

Audits

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to prevent the early shredding of (a) audit records and (b) bank reconciliations by auditors and to require audit records to be kept to facilitate investigation of audit failure; and if she will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: The keeping of audit records is covered by regulation 3.08b of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW) Audit Regulations 1995 (as amended in 1999). This regulation says that
	a registered auditor must keep all audit working papers which auditing standards require for an audit for a period of at least six years. The period starts with the end of the accounting period to which the papers relate.
	The relevant auditing standards are SAS 230 which details the content of audit working papers, and others such as SAS 200 (on planning) which detail other documentation that needs to be created during the course of an audit. Early shredding of any relevant audit papers, including audit records and bank reconciliations where these form part of the audit working papers, is therefore contrary to regulations. While these are not statutory regulations, compliance with them is indirectly a statutory requirement; the Companies Act 1989 requires audit firms to be registered with a Recognised Supervisory Body such as the ICAEW and to subject themselves to their rules including inspection and enforcement of compliance.

Audits

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received from (a) accounting bodies and (b) professional bodies in support of her proposal to transfer regulatory functions in accountancy and audit from the Accountancy Foundation to the Financial Reporting Council.

Melanie Johnson: The majority of accountancy bodies and other representative bodies that responded to the Government's consultation document on the review of the regulatory regime of the accountancy profession considered that there was a strong case for the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) taking on the functions of the Accountancy Foundation.
	On 29 January 2003 my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry announced that she had accepted the conclusions of the Review team, the main conclusion of which was that the FRC should take on the functions of the Accountancy Foundation. On 11 March the Government published a consultation document on proposals for statutory provisions to support the new regulatory functions of the FRC. The consultation period closes on 10 June.

Audits

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to cap auditor liabilities; what representations she has received on this from (a) audit firms, (b) professional bodies, (c) the European Commission and (d) academics; and if she will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: The Government is considering proposals on auditor liability and will consult on its own detailed proposals in due course.
	We have not received any specific representations on the question of auditor liability; however, a range of interested parties submitted views to the Company Law Review as part of its extensive consultation process. These are on the public record.

Company Directors

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the average period is since 1997 for which disbarred company directors are barred from holding office.

Melanie Johnson: The average period for which company directors have been barred from holding office from 1997 to date are as listed in the table.
	
		
			 Financial year Number of orders Average numberof years 
		
		
			 19992000 1,540 5.45 
			 200001 1,548 5.49 
			 200102 1,761 5.38 
			 200203 1,594 5.41 
		
	
	Such figures for the two earlier years were not collected and could now be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Company Directors

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many company directors were barred from holding directorships in each year since 1997.

Melanie Johnson: The number of directors of insolvent companies who have been disqualified under section 6 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act, 1986 from the financial year of 199697 to date are as listed in the table:
	
		
			 Financial year Total section 6 orders 
		
		
			 199697 1,040 
			 199798 1,267 
			 199899 1,284 
			 19992000 1,540 
			 200001 1,548 
			 200102 1,761 
			 200203 1,594

Wind Farms

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what compensation is payable to fishermen for loss of livelihood from offshore wind farms sited on traditional inshore fishing grounds.

Brian Wilson: holding answer 14 April 2003
	It is for the developers of offshore wind farm projects and those fishermen who might be affected by them to discuss the question of whether compensation should be paid and, if appropriate, how much would be payable in particular cases.

Miners' Compensation

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on claims by surface workers exposed to coal dust for compensation for respiratory disease resulting from their work in the coal mining industry.

Brian Wilson: The Department has been in discussion with the Claimants' Solicitors' Group (CG) for some time over the issue of surface dust. The Department does not believe that the level of respirable dust on the surface was sufficient to cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This position is consistent with its expert medical advice, which is based on surface dust levels recorded by the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM). The CG were unable to accept this position, and in order to move matters forward, the Department agreed to engage in a joint study of the effects of surface dust, which would then be analysed by the parties' respective medical experts. The Department and the CG met with their medical experts in December 2002 to discuss the evidence produced by the joint study. The Department agreed to review further documents produced by the CG at that meeting and give its final position by the end of February 2003.
	Having considered the results of the study and the additional information produced by the CG, the Department's medical adviser has not altered his opinion that there was insufficient respirable dust to cause COPD to surface only workers. Accordingly, the Department wrote to the CG on 28 February 2003 to inform them that it maintains its original position. Surface workers are not therefore admitted under the Claims Handling Agreement for COPD.
	However, claimants can pursue a claim for compensation in relation to surface employment under common law if they wish.

Miners' Compensation

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what impact the establishment of IRISC offices in Cardiff has had on the processing of compensation claims in Wales.

Brian Wilson: IRISC Cardiff has been instrumental to the Department in achieving its target of making 15,000 respiratory disease offers to Welsh claimants during 2002. Since the office began processing claims in July 2001 some 43,000 respiratory disease claims have been received from Welsh claimants. As of 23 March 2003, over 16,000 interim payments have been made and some 17,000 claims settled, totalling over 205 million. In addition, IRISC has received some 21,000 Vibration White Finger (VWF) claims from Welsh claimants. Some 7,300 interim payments have been made and 9,000 claims settled, totalling over 85 million.

Miners' Compensation

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether a claimant for compensation for vibration white finger or chest disease resulting from mine-working is entitled to interest accrued or other compensation if a cheque for payment is not forwarded promptly by the solicitor representing the claimant.

Brian Wilson: The Department is only liable to pay interest for any delay in the payment of compensation up to the point that the damages payment is issued. Payment of interest resulting from any delay caused by the solicitors in forwarding those damages is a matter for the claimant and their legal representative. Under the solicitors Accounts Rules and dependent on the amount and the time payment for damages has been withheld from the claimant, the claimant's solicitor may be liable for payment of interest.

Miners' Compensation

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the extent of delays in miners' compensation payment caused by cheques failing to be promptly forwarded by solicitors to their clients.

Brian Wilson: Once payment is forwarded to the claimant's solicitors the Department has no means by which they can monitor the 300 or more firms of solicitors as to the time taken by them to forward payment on to their clients. However, I have expressed concern about the delays which occur in some cases and have emphasised the importance of effective communication between solicitors and clients at this stage in the process.

Departmental Annual Report

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the annual report of her Department will be published.

Patricia Hewitt: The spring 2003 Departmental Reports are to be published between 28 April and 16 May 2003. We will publish our Departmental Report within this period.

Departmental Creche Facilities

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what crche facilities are provided by her Department; and at what cost.

Patricia Hewitt: The information is as follows:
	Holiday playscheme
	Department staff in central London have access to a 32-place holiday playscheme for a minimum of 54 days each year. Staff contribute 14.00 per place towards the 31.00 daily fee. DTI HQ staff in Cardiff have access to a local Easter and summer holiday playscheme for a contribution of 12.00 per place towards the 24.00 daily fee.
	Nursery playscheme
	Departmental staff in central London have access to six nursery places (divided equally between children under 2 and over 2 years old at the inter-departmental nursery. The weekly cost to the Department for a full-time place for an under-2 is 200.50 and 169.00 for 2 years old and over. Staff contribution is levied at a flat rate of 112 per week for a full-time place irrespective of the age of the child. Children attending nursery on a part-time basis are charged on a pro rata basis. DTI's total expenditure on child care for this financial year was 43,995.00

Departmental Spending

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her estimate is of expenditure by her Department on the (a) Hearing Aid Council, (b) Consumer Communication for England, (c) British Hallmarking Council, (d) Ethnic Minority Business Advisory Forum, (e) Import Parity Price Panel and (f) Textiles and Clothing Industry Forum; if she will list the purpose of each; and if she will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 8 April 2003
	Latest available estimated expenditure by my Department for the following bodies are as follows.
	
		000
		
			  200203 200304 
		
		
			  
			  
			 British Hallmarking Council 10 10.5 
			 Ethnic Minority Business Advisory Forum 78 70 
			 Import Parity Price Panel 65  
			 Consumer Communication for England (Sponsored by OFTEL) 15 32 
		
	
	The terms of reference for these bodies are set out in the Cabinet Office Publication Public Bodies 2002.
	The structure and purpose of the Hearing Aid Council is set out in the Hearing Aid Council Act 1968 and the Hearing Aid Council (Amendment) Act 1989. The departmental expenditure estimates for this body are:
	
		
			  000 
		
		
			 200203 74 
			 200304 75 
		
	
	The Textiles and Clothing Industry Forum is a 3.8 million 4-year industry-led project aimed at contributing to the sector's competitiveness by improving the UK textiles and clothing supply chain, supported by a DTI grant of 1.5 million.

Export Control Act

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  in what circumstances an individual dealing in arms in Zimbabwe who has UK residence rights but holds joint Zimbabwean and Dutch nationality would be subject to the restrictions and sanctions contained in the Export Control Act 2002 and the proposed draft secondary legislation issued for consultation in January;
	(2)  in what circumstances UK companies (a) controlled by and (b) associated with an individual with UK residence rights but joint Zimbabwean and Dutch nationality which are dealing in arms to Zimbabwe would be subject to the restrictions and sanctions contained in the Export Control Act 2002 and the proposed secondary legislation issued for consultation in January;
	(3)  in what circumstances an individual dealing in arms who has UK residence rights but who does not hold a UK passport would be subject to the restrictions and penalties in the Export Control Act 2002 and the proposed draft secondary legislation issued for consultation in January.

Nigel Griffiths: holding answers 14 April 2003
	The Government cannot make assessments on hypothetical cases based on secondary legislation that is still under consultation. However, the Export Control Act 2002 provides new powers to control trafficking and brokering activities carried out in the UK and by UK persons, as defined in the Act.
	The consultation document on the draft orders to be made under the Act sets out the scope of the new trade controls and is available from the Libraries of the House.

Export Control Act

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what (a) sanctions and (b) restrictions would apply to an individual with UK residence rights and business interests but joint Zimbabwean and Dutch nationality under (i) the Export Control Act 2002, (ii) the proposed secondary legislation issued for consultation in January 2003 and (iii) European Union legislation who supplied arms or military supplies to Zimbabwe through (A) UK incorporated companies and (B) Zimbabwe incorporated companies, which are associated with or controlled by him.

Nigel Griffiths: holding answer 14 April 2003
	The Government cannot make assessments on hypothetical cases based on secondary legislation that is still under consultation. However, the Export Control Act 2002 provides new powers to control trafficking and brokering activities carried out in the UK and by UK persons, as defined in the Act.
	The consultation document on the draft orders to be made under the Act sets out the scope of the new trade controls and the penalties for breach of the legislation. The consultation document is available from the Libraries of the House.
	Zimbabwe is subject to an EU embargo on the sale or supply of arms and other military equipment. I also refer my hon. friend to the reply from my right hon. Friend the Member for Livingston (Mr. Cook), the then Foreign Secretary, to my hon. Friend, the Member for Barnsley, East and Mexborough, (Mr. Ennis) of 12 May 2000, Official Report, columns 49394W.

Hallmarks

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions her Department has had with the European Union on the future of hallmarks on (a) gold, (b) silver and (c) platinum; and if she will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: There has been one meeting in Brussels held in November 2002, at the request of the Danish Presidency, to raise the possibility of resurrecting the draft EU Directive on Hallmarking.
	Any directive must enhance the single market and continue to protect the consumer.

Internet Access

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the outcome was of her Department's evaluation of the (a) Government General Practitioner and (b) Internet Learning and Access Point trials.

Stephen Timms: The evaluation report of the Your Guide pilot, which covered both, was published on 23 July 2002 and a copy placed in the Library of the House.

Iraq (Reconstruction)

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans the Government have, and what steps they are taking, to ensure that British and other European companies have an equal opportunity to bid for contracts in the reconstruction of post-war Iraq.

Patricia Hewitt: We expect UK companies to make a significant contribution to the redevelopment of Iraq's essential infrastructure. In this context, it is important that there is a level playing field for all companies who are interested in contracts in Iraq. I have discussed this with the US authorities.

National Energy Research Centre

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what additional resources will be provided (a) to establish and (b) to operate the new national energy research centre; and whether the centre's remit will include research, development and demonstration of nuclear options.

Brian Wilson: The Research Councils have been allocated 28 million over 20036 to fund research in support of a Sustainable Energy Economy. They propose to provide 812 million from the programme, over five years, to establish the UK Energy Research Centre and to provide for research at the Centre and for the co-ordination of a National Energy Research Network.
	A Scientific Advisory Committee is being established to advise the Councils on the emphasis and scope of the programme and of the Centre. However, it is envisaged that the National Energy Research Network would encompass a broad range of energy research.

Part-time Workers

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the impact of the Part-time Workers Directive on staff in her Department.

Patricia Hewitt: All part-time workers in my Department are treated on a par with full-time employees in relation to their terms and conditions of service.

Pharmacies (Entry Regulations)

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions she has had with the Scottish Executive Department of Health on their announcement that they were not to accept the report from the Office of Fair Trading on the entry regulations for pharmacies; and what the outcome of the discussions was.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 14 April 2003
	Discussions were held at ministerial and official level between the Scottish Executive and DTI on this matter. The regulations determining control of entry restrictions are devolved in Scotland and a matter for their Ministers. Scottish Executive Ministers announced their intentions in relation to the OFT report on pharmacies recommendations on 26 March.

Post Offices

Tom Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many post office outlets per head of population there are in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.

Stephen Timms: Based on Postcomm's 200102 annual report on the post office network, the numbers of post office outlets per 10,000 population (based on 1999 ONS estimates) as at end March 2002 was:
	(a) Scotland: 3.73
	(b) England: 2.75
	(c) Wales: 4.68
	(d) Northern Ireland: 3.58

Post Offices

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many decisions to close urban post offices have been reversed following the consultation process in each region in the last six months.

Stephen Timms: Proposals for post office closures under the urban network reinvention programme are put out to public consultation in accordance with the code of practice agreed with Postwatch. Final decisions on closure, after consideration of representations received, are an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. and I have asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to my hon. Friend.

Post Offices

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many closures of urban post offices have been approved in each region in the last six months.

Stephen Timms: Proposals put out to consultation for, and subsequent decisions on, post office closures under the urban network reinvention programme are an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. and I have asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to my hon. Friend.

Power Stations

Eric Illsley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what priority she will give to encouraging the running of power stations fitted with flue gas desulphurisation plant in preference to cheaper, unabated plant.

Brian Wilson: Coal fired power stations are currently regulated by the Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) regime. IPC was established by the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and regulates industrial pollution through a system of authorisation. IPC is being superseded by the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) regime, established by an EC Directive of the same name. Installations that came into operation before 31 October 1999 will be regulated by IPPC from 2006. New installations or those undergoing substantial change will be required to apply for an IPPC permit with immediate effect.
	IPC requires operators to demonstrate that they will use the Best Available Techniques Not Entailing Excessive Cost (BATNEEC) for their activities. BATNEEC have to be applied to prevent or minimise the release of prescribed substances and to render harmless any such substances which are released to air, water and land. If releases are made to more than one environmental medium, the Best Practicable Environmental Option is applied. The regulator assesses BATNEEC on a site by site basis and keeps authorisations under review. Depending on the characteristics of the plant, BATNEEC may include the use of flue gas desulphurisation.
	In an IPPC permit application, operators are required to demonstrate that they will use the Best Available Techniques (BAT) to control pollution from their activities. BAT aims to prevent, and where that is not practicable, to reduce to acceptable levels, emissions from the activities. BAT also aims to balance the cost to the operator against the benefits to the environment, and is assessed by the regulator on a site by site basis, taking into account European guidance on what constitutes BAT for that sector.

Property Portfolio

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the estimated value is of the property portfolio held by her Department.

Patricia Hewitt: As at 31 March 2002 the net book value of the Department of Trade and Industry and its Agencies property portfolio was 78,953 as shown in the Department's 20012002 Consolidated Resource Accountsdocument number HC280.

Regions White Paper

Joyce Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made by the Department towards the aim in the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice, of encouraging applicants to public bodies from all parts of England; and what change there has been in the geographical diversity of appointees to NDPBs and other public bodies sponsored by the Department since the publication of the White Paper.

Patricia Hewitt: My Department is keen to promote diversity on all public bodies that it sponsors. Applications are sought from all members of the community irrespective of gender, ethnicity and geographical location. Vacancies on DTI sponsored NDPBs and other public bodies are advertised in the national and regional press; in trade and professional journals, on our web site and on the Cabinet Office's new vacancies website. During 2002, I led with my hon. Friend the Deputy Minister for Women, a national outreach programme involving 8 regional seminars. The seminars were aimed at increasing the numbers of women from the regions, minority ethnic women and disabled women applying for public appointments.
	Between 14 May 2002 and 31 March 2003 I and my Ministerial colleagues in the DTI made 368 new appointments. The breakdown by region, based on home address is:
	
		
			 Region  
		
		
			 East Midlands 39 
			 Eastern 62 
			 London 37 
			 North East 18 
			 North West 25 
			 South East 76 
			 South West 23 
			 West Midlands 26 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 13 
			 Undisclosed 49

Research Councils

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  how much was provided by her Department to (a) NERC, (b) BBSRC and (c) MRC to ameliorate the impact of the retrospective application of phase 1 of Resource Accounting and Budgeting; when such funding was provided; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  when her Department was first informed of the impact that the retrospective application of phase 1 of Resource Accounting and Budgeting to research councils would have on (a) the Natural Environment Research Council, (b) the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and (c) the Medical Research Council; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  what discussions her Department had with each research council on the retrospective application of phase 1 of Resource Accounting and Budgeting; when such discussions were first held; and if she will make a statement.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 14 April 2003
	The 2000 Spending Review introduced Phase 1 of Resource Budgeting, which became the sole method of reporting and control for departments' budgets with effect from 1 April 2001. Prior to that, accounts and budgets were controlled on a cash basis. In preparation for the 2000 Spending Review the Treasury asked departments to restate baselines on the basis of the phase 1 resource budgeting rules. In addition the Treasury required 200001 expenditure outturn to be reported on both a cash and a resource basis. Accordingly, the three Councils reported provisional 200001 outturns in May 2001 and later reported audited figures, which the Department in turn reported in May 2002 to the Treasury as required.
	As part of this process, the MRC raised questions with the Department in January 2002 about the classification of its End of Year Flexibility at the transition to Phase 1 of Resource Budgeting. These were satisfactorily resolved. The BBSRC also raised questions and these were satisfactorily resolved in July 2002. In the last quarter of 200102 NERC informed the Department that the Council was experiencing difficulties associated with the assessment of End of Year Flexibility on a resource basis, which were resolved.
	I have assisted some of the Research Councils in the transition from cash to resource accounting and budgeting by agreeing to minor reprofiling of their budgets. However, no additional resource has been made available to any of these Councils as a result.
	My Department has had, and continues to have, in its role of sponsor Department for the Research Councils, extensive discussions with them about the implementation of Resource Accounting and Budgeting. Where implementation has thrown up any particular issues of concern to the Research Councils, my Department has discussed these with them immediately.

Solar Photovoltaics

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of the total expenditure in 200203 on the Solar PV Major Demonstration Programme has been spent on administration and management of the programme; and what percentage has been allocated to customers in capital grants.

Brian Wilson: holding answer 14 April 2003
	In the first financial year of the programme, a total of over 6.83 million (93.85 per cent.) has been allocated in grants, and 0.42 (6.15 per cent.) million has spent on management and administration, including operating the installer accreditation scheme and inspection regime, and the costs of marketing and promoting the programme.

Solar Photovoltaics

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps her Department has taken to minimise the management and administrative costs of the Solar PV Major Demonstration Programme; and if she will make a statement.

Brian Wilson: holding answer 14 April 2003
	The Management Contract for the programme was competitively tendered and the bidder which offered the best level of service at most reasonable cost was selected. In addition, we have sought to keep the application process as simple as possible while ensuring proposals are treated fairly and the high quality of installations and service is maintained. A significant part of the costs goes on administering the installer accreditation scheme and on inspecting the installations. All marketing and promotion is closely controlled and we make use of the existing channels of the Management consortium.

Staff Numbers

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many staff were employed by her Department in (a) 200102 and (b) 200203.

Patricia Hewitt: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister of State for the Cabinet Office on 4 April 2003, Official Report, columns 89192W.

Sunset Clauses

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the sunset clauses included in legislation from her Department since 1997.

Patricia Hewitt: Two Bills introduced by my Department in the last five years contained a sunset clause.
	Section 16(4) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000 provides for the repeal of Part 1 of the Act five years from Royal Assent if no order is made before then under Section 16(2).
	During the current session, Clause 4 of the Electricity (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill contains a time limit that applies to that clause only.
	The use of such clauses in future Bills will be assessed on a case-by-case basis in line with Cabinet Office guidance.

Trading Scheme (Exclusion) Regulations

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans the Government has to reform the Trading Scheme (Exclusion) Regulations 1997 to improve the protection of potential participants in trading schemes which present risks to those with little commercial experience; and if she will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 14 April 2003
	There are no plans to review the Regulations.
	Monday 28 April 2003

PRIME MINISTER

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with the US Administration regarding the longer term plans for the oversight of the oil industry in Iraq;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on his policy on the long-term plans for the oversight of the oil industry in Iraq.
	(3)  what his policy is on whether Iraqi oil, following the conflict in the Gulf, should be sold in (a) dollars and (b) euros; and what discussions he has had with the US Administration on this issue.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave the hon. Member for Halifax (Mrs. Mahon) and for Blyth Valley (Mr. Campbell) in the House on 14 April 2003, Official Report, columns 627 and 63031.

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he has had on lifting UN sanctions on Iraq.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr. Duncan Smith) in the House on 14 April 2003, Official Report, column 620.

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he has had on a debt restructuring conference for post-war Iraq.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr. Duncan Smith) in the House on 14 April 2003, Official Report, column 620.

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he has had with the US Government on deployment of international civilian police force in Iraq following the conflict to (a) assist in civil security needs and (b) help train and monitor Iraq's civilian police.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the statement I gave in the House on 14 April 2003.

President Bush

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Prime Minister on which occasions since 11 September 2001 he has held meetings with President Bush; what the venues were; and on which occasions the production of oil from middle eastern countries was discussed.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Truro and St. Austell (Matthew Taylor) on 8 April 2003, Official Report, columns 12627W, and the answer I gave the hon. Member for Halifax (Mrs. Mahon) in the House on 14 April 2003, Official Report, column 627.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much opium (a) was produced by Afghanistan in (i) 2001 and (ii) 2002, (b) has been produced this year and (c) is predicted for 2004 on present trends.

Mike O'Brien: The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) conducts an annual survey into the level of opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan. This reported that 185 tonnes of opium was produced in 2001 and 3,400 tonnes in 2002.
	The UNODC is in the process of carrying out the 2003 survey. Its results will be published in the autumn. The 2004 survey is likely to start at the end of this year.
	In March 2003 the UNODC published an Opium Rapid Assessment Survey for Afghanistan. This gave an early insight into the pattern of opium poppy cultivation for the 200203 growing season, but did not predict the level of opium production for 2003 or beyond.
	The 2002 increase was no surprise. The Taliban's cultivation ban in 2001 was driven by short-term motives and inherently unsustainable. It was imposed with bribery and threats, including in some cases, death. It also did not cover trafficking, processing or stockpiling. Indeed the Taliban's profits from these activities grew as, after two bumper harvests, the ban drove up opium prices. Sustained reductions in cultivation will only follow from a long-term process to build up Afghan drug law enforcement and encourage alternative livelihoods for farmers.

Al-Qaeda

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on al-Qaeda terror activity in (a) the Middle East and (b) the rest of the world.

Mike O'Brien: Al-Qaeda continues to pose a significant threat in the Middle East and globally, despite some very considerable success against their leaders and operations. Al-Qaeda and related groups will only be overcome through sustained international effort and co-operation. The UK will continue to play a leading role in the fight against international terrorism.

Al-Qaeda

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on evidence of al-Qaeda links to the ricin plant found in Iraq.

Mike O'Brien: We have received a number of reports on facilities in north-east Iraq in territory controlled by Ansar al Islam, and their links to al-Qaeda. It is the practice of successive Governments not to comment on intelligence matters. The Security and Intelligence Agencies are not within the scope of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information (Paragraph 6, Part I).

Al-Qaeda

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what (a) funds and (b) personnel have been allocated to the war in Iraq which would otherwise have been directed at the al-Qaeda threat.

Mike O'Brien: None. Coalition action in Iraq has not been at the expense of the campaign against international terrorism, which has continued unabated. There has never been a question of choosing between the two threats. The downfall of the regime in Iraq will reduce the threat of terrorists gaining access to weapons of mass destruction.

Assisted Suicide

James Plaskitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what guidelines he has issued to his staff on dealing with inquiries from UK citizens seeking an assisted suicide overseas.

Mike O'Brien: Consular staff guidelines provide that British nationals seeking assisted suicide abroad should be given the same consular services as all our consular customers. They also state that consular staff should not provide advice or assistance to British nationals seeking information about the law or practice relating to assisted suicide in other countries, but should explain that it is contrary to UK law. Our staff should advise that British nationals should obey the laws of any country to which they travel, and that local legal advice should be sought if appropriate.

Bangladesh

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what recent discussions he has had with the Prime Minister of Bangladesh on the actions of her Government in Operation Clean Heart; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with the Bangladesh Government on the complaints of harassment of members of opposition parties in Bangladesh; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: We were concerned by reports of mistreatment of detainees associated with Operation Clean Heart, and by the simultaneous arrests and reported harassment of opposition politicians. We have discussed both issues with the Bangladesh Government on a number of occasions, including when my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State at the Department for International Development (Ms Keeble), met the Bangladesh Home Minister in Dhaka last December. We look for the due process of law to be followed in all cases. We also urge the Government and opposition parties to work together in the interests of democracy.

Bangladesh

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the British High Commissioner in Bangladesh on the human rights situation in Bangladesh.

Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary sees the High Commissioner's reports on human rights and other developments in Bangladesh and has discussions with him at Heads of Mission meetings. We continue to raise our concerns on human rights with the Bangladesh authorities. The FCO Director for South Asia and our High Commissioner discussed human rights with the Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner in London in January. My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State at the Department for International Development (Ms Keeble), also took up the issue with the Bangladesh Home Minister when she visited Dhaka last December.

British Detainees (Guantanamo Bay)

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 2 April 2003, Official Report, column 741W, what the response of the US Government has been to his request for formal consular access to Guantanamo Bay.

Mike O'Brien: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave her on 24 March 2003, Official Report, column 70W. As Guantanamo Bay is outside a recognised consular district, the US does not consider that we are entitled to formal consular access there. However, British officials have visited on four occasions to check on the welfare of the British nationals and ask questions relating to national security. We were the first country to visit its nationals.

Burma

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received concerning the effect of EU sanctions on human rights violations in Burma; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: The EU Common Position has been effective in keeping up international pressure for the Burmese regime to improve its unacceptable record of human rights violations. There have been some very minor improvements since 2000 such as the release of some political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and improved co-operation with the United Nations. However, the overall situation remains of grave concern. UK policy will remain firm until the military regime irreversibly commits to national reconciliation, respect for human rights and democracy.

Burma

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with EU colleagues concerning future action against the Burmese Government in the event of continuing human rights violations in Burma.

Mike O'Brien: The EU Common Position comes up for renewal before 29 April 2003. Discussion within the European Union is ongoing including at ministerial level, concerning the European Union's assessment of the situation in Burma. The human rights situation is an important part of this discussion and a key factor in deciding if/how the European Union Common Position should be amended to best press for political change in Burma.

Burma

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with representatives of (a) the State Peace and Development Council and (b) the National League for Democracy concerning political repression in Burma.

Mike O'Brien: On 7 March I met the Burmese Ambassador to the UK to express my concern over the deteriorating political, economic, humanitarian and human rights situation in Burma. I explained that UK policy may have to toughen unless the military authorities take action to move the political process forward.
	I am in regular telephone contact with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. We have agreed that the overall level of repression in Burma remains a cause of grave concern and that the military regime must act quickly to move Burma towards national reconciliation, respect for human rights and democracy.

Burma

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Government have received from supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi concerning her (a) current condition and (b) treatment at the hands of the Burmese Government.

Mike O'Brien: I am in regular telephone contact with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. She remains resolute and hopeful that democracy in Burma is achievable. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is able to travel and operate relatively freely. On 6 April she undertook a visit to Chin State where large crowds met her. There have been some instances where local authorities have obstructed Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's visits, most notably in Northern Rakhine State in December 2002. As a result of the problems encountered in Northern Rakhine State, the UK and EU have issued statements expressing concern and calling for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's freedom to travel and operate.

Burma

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what efforts are being made by the British Government to encourage a reduction in regional border tensions between Burma, Bangladesh and Thailand.

Mike O'Brien: The EU co-sponsored a resolution on Burma at the United Nations General Assembly in November 2002 that pressed for the peaceful end to all conflicts in Burma. We are also in regular contact with the Governments of Bangladesh and Thailand to press the case for political progress in Burma. It is in the best interests of all Burma's neighbours that national reconciliation, respect for human rights and democracy is rapidly achieved.

Burma

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on co-operation between the British and Burmese authorities to stem the trade in illicit drugs produced in Burma.

Mike O'Brien: The primary source of opium that is trafficked to the UK is from Afghanistan. There is no evidence of illicit drugs originating from Burma being trafficked to the UK in significant quantities.
	Despite some co-operation with the United Nations on drug related issues, the Burmese authorities' response to the continued production and distribution of illicit drugs from the territory of Burma remain insufficient.

Burma

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received from the State Peace and Development Council concerning the denial of full citizenship to ethnic and religious minorities in Burma.

Mike O'Brien: In keeping with its attitude towards other human rights problems, the State Peace and Development Council does not accept that it has a problem concerning the denial of full citizenship rights to Burmese citizens. However, there is ample evidence that this is a serious problem, in particular given the refusal to grant full rights to many of the Muslim Rohinghyas who live in Rakhine State.

Burma

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made concerning access for the UNHCR to all parts of Burma.

Mike O'Brien: There has been some modest progress in access for UNHCR staff in Burma, such as in Northern Rakhine State. However, many areas of Burma remain off-limits to the United Nations and non-government organisations, in particular parts of the Thai/Burma border. I place a high priority on action to press for unhindered access to all parts of Burma for the United Nations and non-governmental organisations.

Burma

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the number of internally displaced people in Burma; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: Definitive figures are not available because international access is restricted in large areas of Burma. However, some estimates from non-government organisations have indicated that over 600,000 may be internally displaced in Burma. Despite the lack of accurate statistics, it is clear that this is a major problem and that the Burmese authorities must take action to stop fresh displacement of people and allow the safe resettlement of those currently internally displaced.

Burma

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of any developments in the human rights situation in Burma since the adoption of the most recent UN Resolution in November 2002; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: Regrettably, we have not seen any substantive improvements in the overall human rights situation in Burma since the November 2002 resolution at the United Nations General Assembly. The military authorities have allowed a delegation from Amnesty International to visit Burma. But this has not yet led to an improvement in human rights adherence. I am also concerned that the pace of the release of political prisoners has slowed markedly and that there has been a significant increase in new detentions and arrests for political reasons.

Burma

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department intends to take in response to human rights violations and continued breach of UN resolutions on the part of the Burmese Government; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: The EU is currently drafting a resolution on the human rights situation in Burma for adoption at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights later this month. The UK is playing an active role in producing the draft. I believe it is important that the international community continues to make clear its abhorrence of the human rights violations in Burma and maintains pressure for the situation to be rapidly improved.
	The human rights situation will also be a key factor in the European Union's discussions concerning the renewal this month of the European Union Common Position on Burma. The Common Position contains a range of measures designed to bring pressure to bear on the military authorities to move towards national reconciliation, respect for human rights and democracy in Burma.

Burma

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received from (a) ASEAN nations, (b) NGOs and (c) UN member states concerning possible action to promote human rights in Burma; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: The FCO is in regular contact with ASEAN nations, non-governmental organisations and other members of the United Nations concerning the human rights situation in Burma. The successive resolutions passed on Burma at the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights confirm the international community's view that the situation is unacceptable and that rapid action is needed by the Burmese military authorities to improve their human rights record.
	HMG will continue to work for a collective approach within the international community to reduce and eliminate human rights violations in Burma.

Burma

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to address the use of forced child labour in Burma.

Mike O'Brien: The UK has been at the forefront of support for the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) effort to eliminate the use of forced labour in Burma. At the meeting of the ILO Governing Body in March 2003, the Presidency of the European Union, on behalf of the UK and other EU countries, expressed continuing concern that the Burmese regime had not made further progress on this issue and said that it was a lack of political will on behalf of the Burmese authorities that was the root cause of this. The UK fully supports the decision taken by the ILO to call for a plan of action to be agreed before the next meeting of the ILO Liaison Officer and the Burmese authorities on the steps required to reduce and eliminate forced labour in Burma.

Burma

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations his Department has received from the Burmese Government concerning human rights violations; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: The Burmese military regime has not signed up to many of the United Nations instruments covering acceptable standards of human rights adherence and does not share our concern about the unacceptable level of human rights violations in Burma. We will continue to press bilaterally with the Burmese regime and in international fora for a rapid improvement in the situation. As part of this we will continue to press for democratic reform in Burma. It is only through the return of democracy and the rule of law that the underlying problems contributing to the human rights violations can be adequately addressed.

Chechnya

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the numbers of people who have fled the conflict in Chechnya, and subsequently returned.

Denis MacShane: The security situation in Chechnya has made it very difficult to obtain accurate data. The Danish Refugee Council, a respected NGO working in the area, estimates the population of Chechnya to be 675,000 of whom 143,000 are internally displaced within the republic. They also estimate that a further 95,000 Chechens are living in the neighbouring republic of Ingushetia and that 40,000 more are living further afield. According to official sources, the current population of Chechnya is 1,088,000. We believe that more than 180,000 people fled to Ingushetia during the peak of the fighting in late 1999/early 2000. Approximately half of them have now returned to Chechnya.

Civil Servants (Overseas Missions)

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the employment rights of locally-engaged British civil servants who serve abroad for a diplomatic mission; and what complaints procedure is open to them.

Mike O'Brien: In FCO missions abroad the rights of all employees are protected by local law.
	Every mission is required to have complaints procedures set out in Terms and Conditions of Service given to each employee on appointment.
	Procedures in each mission will vary. There would be disproportionate cost involved in obtaining copies of procedures from every post in the world.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government are taking to promote peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Bill Rammell: The UK is actively engaged with our African, EU and UN partners in promoting a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Government have supported the implementation of both the Lusaka Peace Agreement and the Pretoria Agreement of July 2002 as providing the most viable way forward.
	We warmly welcome the agreement signed in Sun City on 2 April on the establishment of a transitional government with a view to democratic elections in two years time. We will play our part as a member of the International Support Committee which is tasked with supporting the transitional process in DRC.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the latest situation in the peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; what steps his Department is taking to address this situation; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: Agreement was reached on 2 April in Sun City (South Africa) on the establishment of a transitional government in the Democratic Republic of Congo. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary issued a press statement on 3 April warmly welcoming this development. I have placed a copy in the Library of the House.
	The UK is actively engaged with our African, EU and UN partners in promoting a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Government have supported the implementation of both the Lusaka Peace Agreement and the Pretoria Agreement of July 2002 as providing the most viable way forward. It will continue to play its part, as a member of the International Committee for Support to the Transition, which is tasked with supporting the transitional process in the DRC.

Employment Relations Act

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff in his Department have taken time off from work in order to attend to domestic incidents as provided for by the Employment Relations Act 1999.

Mike O'Brien: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office do not record this information centrally so we are unable to provide this information without incurring disproportionate costs.

EU Enlargement

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 1 April 2003, Official Report, column 653W, if he will undertake a fresh analysis of the costs and benefits to the United Kingdom of EU enlargement.

Denis MacShane: Figures for the positive economic benefits of enlargement for the current EU, including the UK, have been supported by other independent studies, including, most recently, the Report of Wim Kok to the European Commission Enlarging the European Union: Achievements and Challenges (March 2003). This estimates that enlargement will provide a one-time gain of 0.2 per cent. of GDP for the current EU, and create 300,000 jobs (http://www.iue.it/RSCAS).

EU Enlargement

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 1 April 2003, Official Report, column 653W, if he will undertake an analysis of the costs and benefits to the United Kingdom of EU membership; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: The costs and benefits to the UK of EU membership are regularly discussed in Parliament and revealed in oral and written questions. This is a continuing process and the FCO has no plan to publish a specific report at this time on this subject.

Family Visa Applications

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the reasons for the increase in the refusal rate since August 2002 for family visa applications in (a) India, (b) Tehran, (c) Cairo, (d) Nicosia and (e) Nairobi.

Bill Rammell: All applications are decided on their merits and in accordance with the Immigration Rules. Globally the monthly refusal rate in 2002 follows a similar pattern to the monthly refusal rate in 2001. The fee for family visitor appeals was abolished on 15 May 2002 but there is no evidence that ECO decision making has been influenced by the abolition of the fee. Work is now in hand on the final report of the interdepartmental review of family visitor appeals, which we expect to publish in June.

Ian Hook (Israel)

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations his Department made to the Government of Israel following the shooting of UNRWA worker Ian Hook; and what response has been made to those representations.

Mike O'Brien: We have made our concerns clear at the highest levels. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary spoke to the then Israeli Foreign Minister, Mr. Netanyahu, on 22 November 2002. Mr. Netanyahu promised an immediate investigation and gave an undertaking to share the results as soon as he had them. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary followed up with Mr. Netanyahu on 20 December 2002. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister raised the matter with Prime Minister Sharon on 29 November 2002. I have also raised it on a number of occasions with the Israeli Ambassador, Mr. Shtauber.
	There has also been frequent contact between our embassy in Tel Aviv and the Israeli authorities and between senior officials in London and the Israeli embassy. The Israelis have assured us that the investigation would be rigorous and comprehensive.
	We are in touch with the Hook family who are considering next steps.

Ian Hook (Israel)

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has been given by the Government of Israel concerning the results of inquiries undertaken into the circumstances of the death of Ian Hook.

Mike O'Brien: The Israelis have reported privately to Mr. Hook's family on the findings of their investigation. We are in touch with the Hook family, who are considering next steps.

India/Pakistan Relations

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the current state of relations between India and Pakistan; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: We remain seriously concerned at the continuing unstable stand-off between India and Pakistan. The reductions in military deployments by both sides in late 2002 were welcome. But these were not unfortunately followed by further de-escalatory moves or movement towards the resumption of political engagement.
	We face a significant risk of a renewed crisis between India and Pakistan over the coming months. It is in neither side's interests to provoke or initiate a military conflict that could escalate to the use of nuclear weapons. Pakistan should fulfil its commitments to stop infiltration across the Line of Control and discourage any acts of violence by militants in Kashmir. Both sides should consider immediately implementing a cease-fire and take other active steps to reduce tension. The United Kingdom stands ready to help both countries start a process aimed at building confidence, normalising bilateral relations and resolving outstanding differences, including Kashmir. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made these points clearly in his joint statement with US Secretary Powell at Camp David on 27 March.

International Criminal Court

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the circumstances in which the International Criminal Court could intervene to prosecute UK citizens in cases where the British judicial system was unwilling or unable to do so.

Bill Rammell: In accordance with the complementarity provisions of the Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Criminal Court Act 2001 (which gave domestic effect to the Statute), the relevant UK authorities will, where appropriate, exercise jurisdiction in respect of allegations against UK service personnel, UK Citizens or residents.

Iraq

Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with Iraqi opposition groups about the nature of a post-war Iraq Government.

Mike O'Brien: We hold regular consultations with the Iraqi community in the UK and elsewhere and are actively seeking their input into a representative post-Saddam Government in Iraq.

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's policy is on the participation of pro-independence Kurdish political parties and pro-Iranian Islamic fundamentalist parties in elections in post-war Iraq.

Mike O'Brien: As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister told the House on 2 April 2003,
	We want Iraq to be run by the Iraqi people for the Iraqi people. And we want to get to this point as soon as possible.
	In order to facilitate this, we hold regular consultations with the Iraqi community in the UK and elsewhere and are actively seeking their input into discussions on a representative post-Saddam Government in Iraq.
	We hope that any post-Saddam representative authority in Iraq will include all sections of Iraqi society. However, as we have made clear on many occasions, we condemn terrorism and terrorist organisations and do not expect recognised terrorist organisations to be part of the process leading to a representative authority in post-Saddam Iraq.

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the content of the 1994 US Senate Riegle Report, with particular reference to Chapter 1, Part 2, US Exports of Biological Materials to Iraq.

Mike O'Brien: The section of the report dealing with US exports of biological materials to Iraq contains details of a number of exports of both pathogenic and non-pathogenic materials in the 1980s. These exports were licensed by the relevant US authority at the time, on the basis that they were for legitimate scientific research purposes.

Iraq

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has collated on whether the President of Ukraine authorised arms shipments to Iraq last year.

Denis MacShane: In September 2002 the United States authenticated a recording of President Kuchma in 2000 authorising a transfer of arms to Iraq. A US-UK team of experts visited Ukraine in October 2002 to investigate. The team concluded that they were not satisfied that the arms could not have been transferred. The matter has therefore remained open.

Iraq

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the (a) names and (b) organisations of those attending the meeting in Nassiriya on 15 April; and which of them are women.

Mike O'Brien: The US organisers of the Nassiriya meeting issued invitations to individual Iraqis, not organisations. It would be inappropriate to name these individuals without their consent. Six Iraqi women were invited. At least four are reported to have attended and three spoke publicly. Eight US female staff were also invited. The Government welcome the commitment made at the meeting, that
	Iraq must be built on respect for diversity including respect for the role of women.

Iraq

Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans the coalition forces have to increase Iraqi oil production to pre-1991 levels.

Mike O'Brien: The coalition will limit itself to emergency maintenance and repairs, and other short term measures, which might allow production at or above last year's level, itself about the same as in 1990. But my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has made it quite clear on numerous occasions that Iraqi oil belongs to the people of Iraq. All major investment decisions should be taken by the Iraqis themselves, not the coalition.

Lusaka and Pretoria Agreements

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions (a) he and (b) his Department has had with the Governments of (i) Rwanda, (ii) Burundi, (iii) Uganda, (iv) the Democratic Republic of Congo and (v) the United Nations Organisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo regarding (A) the implementation of the Lusaka Ceasefire and Pretoria agreements and (B) recent developments in the Ituri region.

Bill Rammell: FCO officials have regular discussions with all regional Governments listed and with the UN (both in New York and in the Great Lakes region) about the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the implementation of the Lusaka and Pretoria Agreements. We warmly welcomed the agreement signed in Sun City on 2 April on the establishment of a transitional government with a view to democratic elections in two years time. This concluded the Inter-Congolese Dialogue provided for under the Lusaka Agreement. We will continue to be involved in the peace process as members of the International Committee for Support to the Transition.
	We were shocked to learn of the appalling massacre of civilians by militia in the DRC's Ituri Province on 3 April. My noble Friend, the Baroness Amos, issued a statement on 7 April strongly condemning this tragedy. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House. We are concerned about the effect of the situation in Ituri on relations between Rwanda and Uganda. We have urged Rwanda and Uganda to exercise restraint and not to become engaged in direct confrontation on Congolese soil.

Middle East

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of cumulate origin for industrial products in advancing economic and political stability in the Middle East region.

Denis MacShane: The EU envisages cumulative rules of origin in cooperation with its trading partners in the Middle East who are participants in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. These rules are being implemented and Euro-Med trade ministers have asked for an update on progress in implementation at their next meeting in the second half of 2003. A subsequent assessment of their impact will then be possible.

Montserrat

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has held with the Secretary of State for International Development regarding humanitarian aid to Montserrat.

Mike O'Brien: My noble Friend, Baroness Amos, the Minister for Overseas Territories, meets regularly with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development to discuss the Overseas Territories, including Montserrat. The last meeting was on 27 March.

National Insurance

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the cost will be to public funds in 200304 of the rise in national insurance contributions on the salary bill of his Department.

Mike O'Brien: We estimate that the changes to employers' national insurance contributions announced in the Budget will increase pay costs on average by 0.7 per cent. next year.

North Korea

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans the Government have to help to bring about a peaceful resolution to the situation in North Korea; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: We believe that multilateral diplomatic efforts can bring about a peaceful settlement. Her Majesty's Government are working closely with key international partners to find a peaceful and durable solution to this issue. We continue to engage directly with the North Korean Government on this matter through our embassy in Pyongyang, and with DPRK officials based in London.

North Korea

Candy Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of China on the repatriation of North Korean refugees.

Bill Rammell: We regularly raise the issue of North Korean refugees with the Chinese, including at the biannual UK/China Human Rights Dialogue. At the last round of the dialogue, on 21 November 2002, we urged China to allow the UNHCR access to the border areas and to observe its obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention.
	We will continue to encourage greater co-operation between China and UNHCR on this issue.

Overseas Territories

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the (a) population and (b) total electorate was of each British overseas territory on 1 January.

Mike O'Brien: The populations and electorates at 1 January 2003 were:
	
		
			  Population Electorate 
		
		
			 Anguilla 11,500 6,780 
			 Bermuda 62,999 37,454 
			 British Virgin Islands 20,942 9,432 
			 Cayman Islands 41,900 11,489 
			 Falklands Islands 2,927 1,500 
			 Gibraltar 28,231 (21)17,874 
			 (22)20,675 
			 Montserrat 4,500 2,950 
			 Pitcairn 43 28 
			 St. Helena and Dependencies 5,763 3,372 
			 Turks and Caicos Islands 20,020 6,260 
		
	
	(21) 2000 Election
	(22) 2002 Referendum

Pakistan

Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of (a) the ability of the new Pakistani Government to curb religious fundamentalism and terrorism in Pakistan and (b) the impact of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) opposition on Pakistani Government policies, with particular reference to the frequent public calls for jihad against non-Muslims made by the MMA.

Mike O'Brien: We welcomed President Musharraf's courageous decision to join the international coalition against terrorism and the steps taken thus far to clamp down on terrorist groups in Pakistan, including the banning of five such groups. We will continue to urge him and the new Government to continue with this vital task. Pakistan continues to be a staunch ally in the continuing campaign against al-Qaeda. It is too early to assess the impact that the MMA will have on Pakistan's policies. We have no reason to doubt Pakistan's continuing commitment to act against terrorism and extremism wherever it occurs.

Pakistan

Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Pakistani Government concerning (a) the closing of training camps for militants, (b) the banning of militant organisations, (c) the regulating of Islamic religious schools and (d) support for inter-faith initiatives in Pakistan.

Mike O'Brien: We regularly raise such issues with the Government of Pakistan. We welcomed commitments made by President Musharraf in January and May 2002 to curb terrorism and the action he has taken thus far, including the banning of five terrorist groups. We will continue to urge him and the new Government to continue their efforts to promote a tolerant society free of extremism and militancy. We stand ready to assist. Education is a major focus of Britain's expanding development programme in Pakistan and our bilateral discussions have included the role of religious schools and inter-faith issues.

Pakistan

Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Government of Pakistan concerning the continuing imprisonment of (a) Parvez Masih, (b) Aslam Masih, (c) Anwar Kenneth and (d) Augustine Ashiq 'Kingri' Aslam Masih.

Mike O'Brien: We regularly raise our concerns about sectarian violence and wider human rights issues with the Pakistani authorities. On 7 February 2003 the Greek Presidency of the European Union delivered a demarche to the Minister of State (Law, Justice and Human Rights). The demarche explained our concerns about cases where religious minorities, notably those from the Christian and Ahmadi communities, have been sentenced to death under the blasphemy laws. Cases raised included those of Parvez Masih, Aslam Masih and Augustine Ashiq 'Kingri' Aslam Masih.
	We will continue to take appropriate opportunities, including with our European Union partners, to raise our concerns.

Pakistan

Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Government of Pakistan in relation to (a) the growth of Islamic militancy in the country, (b) the need to bring to justice perpetrators of past and current terror attacks on Christians and (c) the introduction of the Shari'ah Bill in the North West Frontier Province.

Mike O'Brien: We regularly raise our concerns about sectarian violence and wider human rights issues with the Pakistani authorities both bilaterally and through the EU. On 7 February 2003 the Greek Presidency of the EU delivered a comprehensive demarche to the Minister of State (Law, Justice and Human Rights). The EU underlined our concerns at the recent attacks against Christian targets and urged the authorities to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice. The EU also urged the Pakistani Government to provide greater protection to minority groups.
	It is too early to make an assessment on the Sharia Bill. The North-West Frontier Province has yet to consider draft legislation proposing the adoption of Sharia law in the province. This law cannot be fully enacted until approved by both the federal and provincial Parliaments.

Pakistan

Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what actions Her Majesty's Government have taken to advise and assist the Government of Pakistan on the provision of adequate protection for Christians and other non-Muslim communities against potential attacks from Islamic extremists.

Mike O'Brien: On 7 February 2003 the Greek Presidency of the EU delivered a demarche to the Minister of State (Law, Justice and Human Rights). The EU underlined our concerns at the recent attacks against Christian targets and urged the authorities to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice. The EU also urged the Pakistani Government to provide greater protection to minority groups. We will continue to take every appropriate opportunity, including with our European Union partners, to urge Pakistan to protect Christians and other religious minorities against discrimination, intimidation and attacks.

Pakistan

Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps Her Majesty's Government (a) have taken and (b) will take to ensure that the war in Iraq is not perceived by Islamic extremists in Pakistan as a crusade against Islam.

Mike O'Brien: The British High Commission in Islamabad has been in regular contact with the full range of political parties in Pakistan to ensure that they understand the reasons for coalition action in Iraq. These contacts will continue. All have welcomed the opportunity for dialogue.
	All our diplomatic missions take every opportunity to get the message across to host governments, local media and civil society.

Pakistan

Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Pakistan in relation to (a) retaining the joint electoral system and (b) strengthening and empowering minority representation in the National Parliament.

Mike O'Brien: We welcomed President Musharraf s decision to restore the joint electoral system for the 2002 elections. It is a step towards integrating Christian and other religious minorities into mainstream Pakistani society. We are actively funding projects to support National Assembly members in their parliamentary work to protect Human Rights in Pakistan.

Palestinians

Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will estimate the number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli army since 27 March.

Mike O'Brien: We do not have figures for the number of Palestinians detained by the Israelis since 27 March. But a reputable Palestinian human rights non-governmental organisation, Mandela Institute for Human Rights (www.mandela-palestine.org) has reported that as of 31 March around 5,759 Palestinians and Arabs had been detained since the start of the second intifada. This includes over 1,000 in administrative detention.

Parental Leave

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff in his Department have used their leave entitlement under the parental leave directive since it came into force.

Mike O'Brien: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office do not at present record parental leave centrally so we are unable to provide this information without incurring disproportionate costs.

Peter Devlin

Candy Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent contact British consular staff have had with the Spanish authorities regarding the case of Peter Devlin; what guidelines the Government issues to consular staff concerning intervention when a British national is arrested by Spanish authorities but awaits formal charge while the case is under investigation; what plans he and consular staff have to raise the case of Mr. Devlin with the Spanish authorities again; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: Our Honorary Consul spoke with the Spanish court on 9 September 2002, and was informed that, except for certain items relevant to the investigation, the court agreed to release all of Force 9 Salvage's equipment. Our Honorary Consul spoke to the presiding judge again on 11 April 2003. The judge confirmed that the investigation was ongoing but would not release further information about the case. Our consular staff cannot intervene in the judicial system of another country. Our own judicial system is similarly protected. Our consular team in Spain will continue to monitor this case, but as my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary noted in his letter of 20 November 2002, this is a legal matter and the company should continue to be guided by its lawyer.

Press Office

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people are employed in his Department's press office; and how many were employed on 2 May 1997.

Bill Rammell: The staffing figures for the Press Office for 1997 are listed in Appendix 11 of the 6th report by the Select Committee on Public Administration of the GICS (1998). They show a total of 15.5 Press Officers.
	The current staffing figure is 22 Press Officers. In addition there are seven support administrative staff.

Property Portfolio

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the estimated value is of the property portfolio held by his Department.

Bill Rammell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 25 February 2003, Official Report, column 430W.

Russian Federation

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the Russian Federation's compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Denis MacShane: The UK Government agree with the assessment published on 21 March 2003 by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination of Russia's implementation of the Convention. The Committee welcomed positive steps taken by the Russian Federation to improve the legislative framework and adopt other positive measures to combat discrimination. The Committee also noted a number of concerns, including: the absence of a definition of racial discrimination in domestic legislation; reports of racially selective inspections by law-enforcement officials, particularly against those from the North Caucasus; and reports of violence by, inter-alia, extremist groups against ethnic minorities.
	The UK Government support this assessment. We regularly raise the issue of racial discrimination with the Russian authorities, most recently during the bilateral human rights talks in September 2002 and March 2003.

Secondments

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many individuals have been seconded to his Department from (a) the private sector, (b) NGOs and (c) other, in each case listing (i) from which organisation and (ii) dates of secondments in each year since 199798.

Bill Rammell: Private Sector Secondments
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the then Minister of State at the FCO (Mr. Battle) to the hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Foster) on 29 June 2000, Official Report, column 581W, and to his letter of 5 July 2000 to the hon. Member for Bath which has been placed in the Libraries of the House, which set out a full list of private sector secondments from 1997 to February 2000.
	Since then, there have been a further 26 secondments to the Department, and details are set out in the following table.
	Secondments and attachments are part of the Interchange Initiative, which promotes the exchange of people and good practice between the civil service and other organisations. Before an Interchange can occur all parties must be satisfied that no conflict of interest arises.
	Non-Private Sector Secondments
	Under Cabinet Office Interchange procedures, the term secondment relates solely to movement of staff to and from the private sector and other non-civil service organisations.
	The table below shows secondments to the FCO from other non-civil service organisations. The FCO does not hold comprehensive records for the year 1997, so the information attached begins from 1998. In addition, some FCO departments and posts organise secondment-type placements directly with relevant organisations. No central records of these exist and they are therefore not included.
	Appendix A
	
		Secondments from the private sector to FCO -- March 2000 to April 2003
		
			 Company Start date End date 
		
		
			 Mouchel March 2000 October 2000 
			 British Airways June 2000 February 2001 
			 Price Waterhouse Coopers April 2000 April 2001 
			 Rolls Royce October 2000 April 2001 
			 CMC and Admiral November 2000 April 2001 
			 Wood Group Engineering Ltd November 2000 May 2001 
			 Independent Consultant November 2000 August 2001 
			 Wood Group Engineering Ltd March 2001 November 2001 
			 Standard Chartered Bank May 2001 January 2002 
			 BG plc June 2001 February 2002 
			 Anglia Water January 2002 March 2002 
			 Teeside College June 2001 April 2002 
			 Shell May 2001 May 2002 
			 KPMG June 2000 June 2001 
			 BP June 2000 June 2002 
			 Rolls Royce April 2001 June 2002 
			 E C Harris January 2002 December 2002 
			 Unilever August 2001 August 2003 
			 BAe Systems April 2002 November 2002 
			 Advantica June 2002 November 2002 
			 Ove Arup October 1999 October 2003 
			 KGP May 2002 December 2005 
			 Michael John Trust December 2001 May 2006 
			 AESSeal June 2002 November 2002 
			 Thames Water September 2002 March 2003 
			 Chamber of British Industry October 2002 April 2003 
		
	
	Note:
	TPUK refers to Tradepartners UK, the trade development arm of British Trade International.
	Appendix B
	
		Seconded from non-private sector
		
			  Start End 
		
		
			 Metropolitan Police 1 April 1998 23 June 2002 
			 German MFA 1 June 1998 1 July 1999 
			 US State Dept 1 August 1998 1 August 1999 
			 German MFA 1 August 1998 1 July 1999 
			 National Air Traffic Systems 1 October 1998 1 July 2001 
			  
			 Financial Services Authority 1 January 1999 31 July 2001 
			 Ecole National d'Amin (ENA) 1 January 1999 7 January 1999 
			 French MFA 1 February 1999 1 July 1999 
			 New Zealand MFA 1 April 1999 1 July 1999 
			 German MFA 1 August 1999 1 June 2000 
			 US State Department 1 August 1999 1 August 2000 
			 ENA 1 August 1999 1 January 2000 
			 Metropolitan Police 1 August 1999 6 November 2000 
			 Save the Children 1 September 1999 2 July 2001 
			 Canadian MFA 1 September 1999 1 September 2000 
			 German MFA 1 September 1999 8 December 2000 
			 French MFA 1 September 1999 15 August 2001 
			 National Institute of EC and Social Research 1 September 1999 1 September 2003 
			 House of Commons 1 September 1999 1 September 2001 
			 World Wildlife Fund 1 December 1999 30 November 2002 
			  
			 ENA 1 January 2000 1 July 2000 
			 NGO: Interights 9 January 2000 9 January 2001 
			 Brazilian MFA 21 June 2000 8 November 2000 
			 German MFA 26 June 2000 27 May 2001 
			 Czech MFA 1 December 2000 1 December 2001 
			 US State Department 1 December 2000 1 December 2001 
			  
			 NGO: Asian Family Counselling 1 January 2001 1 January 2004 
			 Metropolitan Police 1 May 2001 1 July 2004 
			 ENA 1 July 2001 15 January 2002 
			 US State Department 30 July 2001 30 July 2002 
			 Office of Fair Trading 10 October 2001 15 October 2003 
			 BBSRC (Research Council) 22 October 2001 19 October 2002 
			  
			 ENA 21 January 2002 21 January 2003 
			 New Zeland MFA 13 May 2002 30 August 2002 
			 City of London Police 1 June 2002 1 June 2004 
			 German MFA 17 July 2002 17 July 2003 
			 Sport England 1 August 2002 1 August 2003 
			 German MFA 12 August 2002 12 August 2003 
			 French MFA 2 September 2002 1 September 2003 
			 BBSRC (Research Council) 20 December 2002 1 November 2005 
			 Lord Chancellor's Dept 10 February 2003 10 August 2003 
		
	
	Notes:
	The FCO grading system equates as follows:
	SMS = Senior Civil Service
	D7 = Home Civil Service 6
	D6 = Home Civil Service 7
	C5 = Senior Executive Officer
	C4 = Higher Executive Officer
	B3 = Executive Officer

Secret Intelligence Service

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress the Secret Intelligence Service has made in releasing its archives into the public domain since 1 May 1997; and how many files from its archives have been transferred to the Public Record Office since 1 May 1997.

Jack Straw: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Member for Livingston (Mr. Cook) on 12 February 1998, Official Report, column 324. The policy set out in the first part of that answer has not changed. Since 1 May 1997, the Secret Intelligence Service has transferred to the Public Record Office five batches of files which it inherited from the wartime Special Operations Executive (SOE), in PRO classes HS5 to HS9, comprising some 4,954 pieces.

Special Advisers

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the salary bill was for special advisers in his Department in 200203; and what it is expected to be in 200304.

Mike O'Brien: The pay package for special advisers is:
	(a) 200203: two, at a cost of 165,289, including salary and pension contributions.
	(b) 200304: pay for special advisers is still under review.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the UN's decision not to re-appoint Mr. Gerhart Baum as Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Sudan.

Bill Rammell: We are actively working for agreement to continue the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Sudan during the current session of the Commission for Human Rights in Geneva. The UN will decide the appointment only after the mandate has been agreed.
	We take a close interest and play an active role in the promotion of human rights in Sudan. This includes our strong support for the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Khartoum, to which the UK is the main contributor of funding. As a member of the EU, the UK has co-sponsored with EU partners successive resolutions at the UN Commission on Human Rights and the UN General Assembly and we did so again at the Commission for Human Rights on 16 April.

Western Sahara

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the Government of Morocco's recent statements on the proposals of Mr. James Baker on Western Sahara.

Mike O'Brien: We understand that at this point, responses to the proposals of James Baker have been kept private. However, I welcome the views of King Mohammed VI of Morocco in his message (read by Driss Jettou, the Moroccan Prime Minister) of 14 March, to the 5th CEN-SAD summit (the Community of Sahel and Sahara states). This renewed the Kingdom of Morocco's readiness for dialogue and negotiation with a view to finding a political solution' to this dispute.
	The United Kingdom supports fully the efforts of the UN Secretary General (UNSG) and his Personal Envoy, James Baker to find a just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution to the Western Sahara dispute that provides for self-determination for the people of Western Sahara.

Western Sahara

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on human rights abuses in Western Sahara.

Mike O'Brien: FCO officials and I call regularly upon the parties to the Western Sahara dispute to take action on human rights issues. In February this year, I called for the immediate release of the remaining 1,160 Moroccan prisoners of war held by the Polisario Front, some held for over 25 years and some are in poor physical and mental health. In April this year officials took action to bring to the attention of the Moroccan authorities concerns over the trial, sentencing and prison conditions of Ali Salem Tamek, a Saharawi activist. We will continue to monitor the situation closely, taking action with the appropriate authorities where necessary.

World Health Organisation

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he plans to have with fellow European Union Ministers on the request by the Government of Taiwan ROC to be granted observer status in the World Health Organisation; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 26 March 2003, Official Report, column 260W.
	FCO officials are in contact with their EU counterparts about the common policy towards Taiwan's relationship with the WHO.

Zimbabwe

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what representations he has made to the Government of Zimbabwe regarding the detention of members of the Movement for Democratic Change; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what information he has collated on the number of Members of Parliament and other members of the Movement for Democratic Change currently detained by the police or other government security forces in Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: Since the nationwide stayaway on 18 and 19 March, over 600 opposition supporters have been arrested. Many have been beaten and tortured. Recent arrests include those of Gibson Sibanda, Parliamentary Leader of the MDC; Paul Themba Nyathi, the party's spokesman; Fidelis Mhashu, the Shadow Education Minister; Giles Mutsekwa, Shadow Defence Minister and numerous MDC MPs. The trial of MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai; Secretary General Welshman Ncube; and Agriculture Spokesman Renton Gasela also continues.
	The EU has condemned the violence and sponsored a resolution on Zimbabwe at the UN Commission on Human Rights.

Zimbabwe

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what evidence he has collated on state-sponsored torture in Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: We receive many credible reports from trustworthy sources, including Amnesty International, the Zimbabwean NGO Human Rights Forum, the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition and Physicians for Human Rights, testifying to the Government of Zimbabwe's use of torture. Evidence suggests that torture is often used with the tacit or explicit approval of the ruling party and agents of the state, including the police force, army and intelligence services.
	We have condemned ZANU (PF) for its use of torture and have called on the Government of Zimbabwe to ratify the UN Convention on Torture.

Zimbabwe

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Cuba regarding the recent arrest of pro-democracy and human rights activists; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: The Under-Secretary of State my hon. Friend the Member for The Harlow (Mr. Rammell) summoned the Cuban Ambassador to register concern following the recent arrests of dissidents in Cuba. EU partners issued a Statement calling for immediate release of all the prisoners. We urge the Cuban Government to respect international human rights.

TRANSPORT

Accountancy Services

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total cost to his Department was for accountancy services in 200203.

David Jamieson: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Airport Noise

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been provided by Central Government funds to (a) all UK airports and (b) each UK airport for noise abatement measures in each of the last 10 years.

David Jamieson: Nil. Each airport is responsible for funding its own noise abatement measures, including noise insulation schemes. This applies irrespective of whether the noise abatement measures are specified by the Secretary of State (i.e. at airports designated under section 80 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982) or determined locally.

Concessionary Travel

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of pensioners use concessionary travel in Shrewsbury and Atcham; and if he will make a statement on the availability of concessionary travel for pensioners in Shrewsbury and Atcham.

David Jamieson: The percentage of pensioners in Shrewsbury and Atcham who claimed concessionary travel in the financial year 200203 was 73 per cent.
	From 1 June 2001 the Government have ensured that all pensioners have been entitled to a free bus pass allowing half-fare travel on local buses, as a minimum. Local authorities may also run more generous schemes if they wish. On 1 April 2003 local authority travel concessions were extended to men aged between 60 and 65.
	Shrewsbury and Atcham Council's Concessionary Travel Scheme offers pensioners and disabled people a choice of:
	(a) Borough Half Fare Bus Card (statutory minimum), which entitles the recipient to half fare travel on local bus services in Shrewsbury and Atcham; or
	(b) Half Fare Countywide Bus Card for which the recipient pays 16 and is entitled to half fare travel on local bus services in Shropshire and to certain towns just outside the county; or
	(c) Unlimited Travel Bus Card for which the recipient pays 120 and is entitled to free travel on local bus services in Shrewsbury and Atcham and half fare travel in the rest of Shropshire; or
	(d) Travel Tokens to the value of 25; or
	(e) Senior Railcard for which the recipient pays 5 and is entitled to one-third off most rail fares nationwide. This option was only introduced from 1 April 2003.
	With all of the Bus Cards listed above there are no time restrictions placed on the use of the card.

Crabbe Yard, Wadborough

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures his Department is taking to ensure that all heavy goods vehicles depositing rubble and other materials at Crabbe Yard, Wadborough, Worcestershire (a) comply with necessary regulations and (b) are properly licensed for the activity.

David Jamieson: The goods vehicle operator licensing system is administered by statutorily independent Traffic Commissioners. Users of heavy goods vehicles carrying goods for hire or reward or in connection with their own trade or business normally require a licence for each traffic area in which they are based. A licence authorises the vehicles and each operating centre. It is an offence to use an unauthorised vehicle or operating centre.

Mobile Phone Use

Linda Perham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he plans to announce his response to the consultation on the use of mobile phones while driving.

David Jamieson: The comments we received in response to consultation last year on a proposal to make it a specific offence to use a hand-held phone while driving are still being considered. An announcement about the results will be made as soon as possible.

New Street Station

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on improving the capacity at New Street rail station in Birmingham.

David Jamieson: The Strategic Rail Authority's (SRA) West Midlands Capacity Study recommended various enhancements that could proceed in two phases, including capacity improvements at Birmingham New Street station. Phase 1 of the study includes a proposal for the provision of two additional platforms at the station. Feasibility work on Phase 1 has already commenced. The terms of reference for Phase 2 are still being finalised. The SRA, working with local interests, expect to complete this work by the end of this year.

Partnership UK

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what projects have been funded by Partnership UK since it was set up.

David Jamieson: Partnerships UK has not funded or invested in any Department for Transport projects.

Railways

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out his objectives for the new Greater Anglia rail franchise; and what steps he plans to take to achieve a fully integrated rail service in East Anglia; and east and north-east London.

David Jamieson: The Strategic Rail Authority's goals for the new franchise are to provide a reliable, high-quality service, consistent with the overall needs of London and eastern England. The new franchise will provide an integrated service into London Liverpool Street by combining the services currently provided by Anglia Railways and First Great Eastern, and the West Anglian services of West Anglia Great Northern railways. A separate management focus for local East Anglia services will also be provided.

Railways

John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will be replying substantively to the letter of 25 November 2002 from the right hon. Member for Tonbridge and Malling with regard to the Government's response to the report on personal safety on the railways produced by Soroptimist International of East England.

John Spellar: A substantive reply was sent on 24 April.

Railways

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received about the Railways (Safety Care) (Amendment) Regulations.

David Jamieson: The Secretary of State has not received any representations about the Railways (Safety Case) (Amendment) Regulations 2003.

Railways

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 8 April 2003, Official Report, column 154W, when he met Central Railway; which representatives of Central Railway were present; what subjects were discussed; and what the conclusions of the meeting were.

David Jamieson: Ministers have met Central Railway on a number of occasions to discuss the progress, and key aspects of their proposals. We are continuing to consider these.

Regions White Paper

Joyce Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress the Department has made towards the goal set out in the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice, of (a) ensuring that regional awareness and devolution feature strongly in Civil Service training and development, (b) increasing the mobility of civil servants between headquarters offices, regional offices, and the Government Offices and (c) encouraging interchange between the Civil Service and organisations in the regions.

John Spellar: My Department is committed to improving awareness of regional issues and devolution among its staff as part of its overall strategy for training and development. Where appropriate this includes participation in training programmes offered by the Civil Service Training College (CMPS).
	The Department is reviewing its induction package to reflect an appropriate emphasis on regional awareness and devolution. The Department's website includes a section on devolution and we brief staff on the regional aspects of the Department's work through internal publications.
	The mobility of staff between HQ policy and regionally based delivery directorates is a strategic priority and all moves are made in the best interest of the Department. To improve the mobility of staff, all permanent Department for Transport (DfT) central staff have access to, and are eligible to apply for, vacancies in the Department's Agencies and the Government Offices via an electronic job advertising system.
	Permanent staff below the Senior Civil Service in the Department for Culture Media and Sport, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for Employment and Skills, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Department for Trade and Industry and the Home Office working in the Government Offices and permanent agency staff, are eligible to apply for advertised DfT posts. However we do not record centrally the resulting staff moves between headquarters and the regions.
	During 200203, around 20 staff undertook interchange postings with organisations in the regions from the then Department for Transport Local Government and the Regions (DTLR). Transport constitutes approximately one third of these postings, all of which are on-going. We aim to improve this. My Department's central interchange team will shortly be discussing the development of specific opportunities with our Agencies, all of whom have staff located outside London.

Special Advisers

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the salary bill was for special advisers in his Department in 200203; and what it is expected to be in 200304.

David Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 28 April 2003, Official Report, column 45W reference 108495.

Strategic Rail Authority

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the amount, the other parties and date of out of court settlements to which the Strategic Rail Authority was a party during the last 12 months.

David Jamieson: There have been no legal proceedings issued against the Strategic Rail Authority and there have been no out of court settlements.

Strategic Rail Authority

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information the Strategic Rail Authority has sought from Chiltern Rail to help assess the impact of the Central Railway proposals.

David Jamieson: The Strategic Rail Authority is in regular contact with Chiltern, as with all franchise holders, regarding all aspects of its business.

Strategic Rail Authority

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what outside consultants are assisting the Strategic Rail Authority in its studies of the impact of the Central Railway proposals on existing rail services.

David Jamieson: The Strategic Rail Authority has been assisted in its studies by Mouchel and Oscar Faber.

Vehicles (Carbon Dioxide Emissions)

Michael Howard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the vehicles available to buy new in the United Kingdom with carbon dioxide emissions of 100 grammes/kilometre or less, which will qualify for the new low carbon vehicle excise duty band.

John Spellar: The Government announced in Budget 2003 the introduction of a new low carbon VED band for cars with carbon dioxide emissions of 100 grammes/kilometre or less. This measure is designed to improve further the signals faced by motorists about their choice of vehicle.
	There are currently no cars on sale in the UK that fall into this new band. However, cars which fall into the band have been on sale in the UK before, and are currently on sale in other European countries. The Government expect more cars to fall into it in the near future. The new band demonstrates that the Government are taking a long-term approach to encouraging the use of cleaner vehicles. The Government set themselves a target in its Powering Future Vehicles strategy last year that by 2012, 10 per cent. of new cars sold should have carbon dioxide emissions of 100 grammes/kilometre or less. This is a positive step in that direction.

Working Time Directive

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with representatives of the haulage industry concerning the implementation of the Working Time Directive.

David Jamieson: Since the road transport directive (2002/15/EC) was adopted on 23 March 2002, DfT Ministers have held two meetings with representatives from both sides of the haulage industry, including the Road Haulage Association, the Freight Transport Association and the Transport and General Workers Union. In addition, on-going discussions are taking place at official level to consider the technical and financial implications of the new directive.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Advertising Campaigns

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her Department's total spending was on advertising and promotional campaigns between April 2002 and March 2003; and what the cost of each campaign was, broken down by costs relating to (a) television, (b) radio and (c) print media.

Alun Michael: The Department does not maintain records of its expenditure on advertising separately. Our expenditure for publicity, which includes advertising, publications, events, shows and direct information literature mailings in financial year 200203 is estimated to be 6.0 million. This includes communication on a very wide range of matters, much of it necessary or beneficial to the public and to the wide range of industries in which Defra has an interest, together with local government, voluntary organisations and other bodies.

Agricultural Subsidies

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the occasions since 1997 when the Department (a) has attempted to reclaim and (b) successfully reclaimed overpayments relating to (i) the environmentally sensitive areas scheme and (ii) other agricultural-related schemes, giving in each case the name of the person or company involved and the amount reclaimed, expressed as a proportion of the original payment made by the Department or its agencies.

Michael Meacher: Details of individual recovery cases are not kept in the format requested. To gather the information would require a significant diversion of resources. There are currently some 28,000 agreement holders in these schemes, each with a 10 year agreement starting some time between 1993 and 2002.

Horse Passports

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the evidential basis was for the statement in her Department's news release of 27 March, that any option other than passports for all horses would have resulted in under implementation of the EU legislation.

Alun Michael: The requirement is set out in Articles 3 and 4 of Commission Decision 2000/68/EC, which must be read in conjunction with Commission Decision 93/623/EC.

Horse Passports

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans other EU countries have to implement European Commission Decision 2000/68/EC; and if she will make a statement.

Alun Michael: We are seeking up-to-date information from other member states on how they are implementing Commission Decision 2000/68/EC. I will write to the hon. Member when the full picture is available.

Pigs

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received about the Pigs (Records, Identification and Movement) (Interim Measures) (England) (No. 2) Amendment Order.

Elliot Morley: We are currently reviewing the representations we have received about the Government's proposals to review the pig identification and tracing requirements. Officials also met with pig industry representatives on 7 April to discuss the proposals further.

Regions White Paper

Joyce Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made by the Department towards the aim in the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice, of encouraging applicants to public bodies from all parts of England; and what change there has been in the geographical diversity of appointees to NDPBs and other public bodies sponsored by the Department since the publication of the White Paper.

Alun Michael: Defra seeks to reach as wide a range of applicants for its public bodies as possible. This includes advertising its public appointments vacancies in the national press and in trade or technical publications, if appropriate. Advertisements for regional bodies are also placed in the regional press. In addition the Department puts all public appointment vacancies on the Defra website at www.defra.qov.uk/corporate/appointments and on the Cabinet Office's new vacancies website at www.publicappts-vacs.gov.uk
	In 2002, Defra staff took part in the 8 regional seminars organised by the Cabinet Office's Women and Equality Unit (now part of DTI). These events were aimed at encouraging more women from the regions, including those from ethnic minority backgrounds and disabled women, to participate in public appointments. Defra's stand exhibited the range of its public bodies and the variety and number of its public appointment vacancies which would arise in the next year.
	All appointments to Defra's public bodies are made on merit. 138 appointments were made between 14 May 2002 and 31 March 2003. Those appointed live in the following Government Office regions:
	
		
			 Government office region Number of appointments Percentage 
		
		
			 North West 5 (23)3.6 
			 North East 2 1.4 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 9 6.5 
			 East Midlands 7 5.1 
			 East of England 25 18.1 
			 West Midlands 7 5.1 
			 South East 48 34.8 
			 South West 11 8 
			 London 8 5.8 
			 Scotland 11 8 
			 Wales 3 2.2 
			 Others(24) 2 1.4 
		
	
	(23) Percentage of all appointees
	(24) Outside UK

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what analysis she has made of the lessons that can be learned from the reconstruction of Afghanistan for Iraq.

Clare Short: DFID has built on lessons learned in each of the complex emergencies with which we have grappled since 1997. The need for communication and information sharing is one of the most important lessons.
	DFID has contributed 150,000 to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) based in Cyprus. The Government's response has been coordinated through a Cabinet Office committee. DFID is providing regular updates on humanitarian and reconstruction issues.
	Departmental and international co-operation has been enhanced by secondments of staff and advisors; DFID have seconded four advisors to UN agencies, two advisors to UK forces and an advisor to ORHA. Further secondments will take place over the coming weeks.
	We have focused our initial humanitarian efforts on the restoration of essential basic services such as power and water supplies and have made the creation of a permissive security environment a priority. This will allow humanitarian agencies to enter Iraq and facilitate further reconstruction activities.
	As in Afghanistan, we are committed to handing over power to the people of Iraq as soon as possible through a broad-based and representative Iraqi Interim Authority (IIA) selected by a process overseen by the UN.

Iraq

Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment her Department has made of the impact of the war in Iraq upon the economies of (a) Eritrea, (b) Sudan and (c) Ethiopia.

Clare Short: The economic effects of the war in Iraq on world markets are unclear, but the economic impacts in the Horn of Africa look unlikely to be significant. If oil prices fall this can be expected to have some negative effect on Sudan, and some positive effects in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Iraq

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what resources have been made available to the International Committee for the Red Cross for its role in Iraq.

Clare Short: My Department has allocated 32 million to the Red Cross/Red Crescent movement for their work in Iraq, 16.5 million of which is for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Iraq

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans her Department has to establish offices in Iraq; what financial resources they will be allocated; and in what cities they will be situated.

Clare Short: DFID's humanitarian assistance to Iraq is managed from London. This is supported by DFID staff deployed in the region, two humanitarian advisers seconded to the UK military in Southern Iraq, staff visits from the UK, and close links with the UN system. Subject to the security situation, we expect staff visits to increase. However it is too soon to say when a longer-term presence will be established in Iraq.

Iraq

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions her Department has had with the health ministries in surrounding states regarding the possibility of transferring acutely ill civilian casualties from Iraq to their hospitals.

Clare Short: DFID has not had any discussions on this issue with health ministries in surrounding states.
	It is preferable for medical assistance to the people of Iraq to be delivered in Iraq where there are large numbers of doctors with suitable facilities. Our priority is to support the work of the ICRC and others to get Iraqi health systems up and running.

Iraq

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many employees her Department has in Iraq.

Clare Short: At present my Department has two staff embedded with UK forces, and one staff member with the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA). We are reviewing our presence in the region on an on-going basis.

Iraq

Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment her Department has made of the humanitarian situation in (a) Najaf, (b) Karbala and (c) Nasariyah; and if she will make a statement.

Clare Short: The International Committee for the Red Cross, UN agencies and NGOs, are now undertaking regular humanitarian assessments in Iraq. The results of these are summarised in our Iraq updates available from DFID's website at www.dfid.gov.uk.
	Humanitarian assessments by almost all agencies operating in Iraq are being logged by the UN Humanitarian Information Centre (HIC) and are available from www.agoodplacetostart.org

Iraq

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what discussions her Department has had with the Ministry of Defence regarding the humanitarian corridors providing aid into Iraq;
	(2)  what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the humanitarian aid corridors established in Iraq.

Clare Short: Aid agencies wish to operate in Iraq within a 'humanitarian space' made secure by the controlling forces rather than being escorted by military forces through 'humanitarian corridors'.
	DFID has had extensive discussions on the need for security with the Ministry of Defence. The military are already aware of the urgency of this issue. The situation is improving steadily. There are now an average of 20 humanitarian missions per day into Iraq, 40 per cent. by UN agencies. Most are into the south. In the north international UN staff are expected to return very shortly.

Iraq

Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether her Department has contributed to the appeal of $5 million for the next six months to support UNFPA in their work with pregnant women in Iraq.

Clare Short: DFID has not contributed to the UNFPA appeal. Our contribution of 65 million to the UN Flash appeal is focused on funding immediate humanitarian needs.
	DFID is a strong supporter of UNFPA. In the last financial year (200203) we increased our annual core support to 18 million.

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what her policy is on whether humanitarian aid should be delivered by (a) the UN and (b) coalition military forces in Iraq.

Clare Short: The coalition military are responsible for the provision of humanitarian assistance in the areas they occupy as set down in the Geneva Convention and Hague regulations governing armed conflict. The Treasury has allocated 30 million to the Ministry of Defence for this purpose. DFID is advising the Ministry of Defence on its humanitarian work.
	DFID is supporting the provision of humanitarian assistance in Iraq on the basis of greatest need. DFID has committed 115 million for this: 65 million to the UN Flash Appeal; 32 million to the International Red Cross/Red Crescent movements; 8 million to the World Food Programme (WFP); 5 million to NGOs; 2 million to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF); 1.75 million to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); 1 million to the World Health Organisation (WHO); 150,000 to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA); 100,000 to the Office of the UN Security Coordinator (UNSECOORD). DFID has set aside 95 million to support emerging humanitarian needs.
	The UK is committed to humanitarian assistance being provided by civilian agencies wherever possible. The UK armed forces fully appreciate the need to hand over to humanitarian agencies as soon as the situation allows.

Iraq

Huw Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement about measures she is taking to support (a) hospitals in Iraq and (b) the provision of medical supplies.

Clare Short: Since the start of the current crisis DFID has supported the following agencies to provide assistance to the Iraqi health sector.
	International Red Cross/Red Crescent movement 32 million
	UNICEF 9 million (2 million for contingency planning and preparedness measures, 7 million as part of the UN Flash appeal)
	WHO 6 million (1 million for contingency planning and preparedness measures, 5 million as part of the UN Flash appeal)
	NGOs including Merlin, International Medical Corps, Save the Children UK and GOAL.
	Coalition forces are working to protect hospitals and restore order in the areas they control as part of their responsibilities under the Geneva Convention and Hague Regulations obligations.

Accountancy Services

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the total cost to her Department was for accountancy services in 200203.

Clare Short: In 200203 DFID spent 540,000 on accountancy services for the development programme and 84,000 on support to our Accounts Department. These figures do not take into account lower value contracts, details of which are not held centrally.

Age Discrimination

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to address the issue of age discrimination.

Clare Short: My Department has been committed to eliminating, and has a published Equal Opportunities Policy forbidding, discrimination on grounds of age for many years. Negative assumptions about age are being tackled as part of the Department's Diversity Action Plan and age will be included as an area for study in our continuing equal pay audit work. The implications of the EU Framework Directive on Equal Treatment will be kept under active review. Those implications are likely to centre mainly on the question of mandatory retirement ages. Within the last year DFID has implemented the recommendations of Winning the Generation Game and now allows staff below the Senior Civil Service to serve on to age 65.

Bilateral Aid

Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list bilateral aid to the health and population sector, broken down by (a) project, (b) programme, (c) technical, (d) grants, (e) humanitarian aid and (f) CDC investments, in 200203.

Clare Short: The following estimated amounts were spent by my Department during 200203 on bilateral aid to the health and population sector. This information is broken down by the nearest equivalents that we have to the types of aid specified. These figures are provisional. Final figures will be published in this years edition of Statistics On International Development.
	
		
			 Provisional 200203 expenditure 000 
		
		
			 Project or sector aid 62,777 
			 Programme aid 3,500 
			 Technical cooperation 178,108 
			 Grants and other aid in kind 44,911 
			 Humanitarian assistance 4,148 
			 Total DFID programme 293,444 
			 CDC investments 17,877 
			 Total gross public expenditure 311,321 
		
	
	An explanation is available in Statistics On International Development 199798 to 200102, a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library. The figures in the table represent expenditure on projects specific to the sector but do not capture the full extent of our efforts in the area because they exclude multisector projects and programmes, strategic funding to civil society organisations and budget support and balance of payments. Also excluded are activities funded through multilateral channels.

Departmental Grants

Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding her Department gave to (a) UNFPA, (b) WHO, (c) UNICEF, (d) UNAIDS, (e) IPPF, (f) MSI, (g) Population Concern and (h) IFH in 200203.

Clare Short: The following estimated amounts were given by my Department during 200203 to the organisations specified. Note that figures for amounts given to NGOs are not yet available for 200203. Figures for previous years can be found in back issues of Statistics On International Development, which is available in the House of Commons Library. The figures below are currently provisional. Final figures will be published in this years edition of Statistics on International Development in October 2003.
	
		
			 Provisional 200203 expenditure 000 
		
		
			 UN Aids 3,052 
			 UN Childrens Fund-UNICEF 17,366 
			 UN Population Fund 9,000 
			 World Health Organisation 46,008 
			 International Planned Parenthood Federation 4,500

Eritrea

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions her Department has had with the European Commission for Humanitarian Aid and Development regarding the humanitarian situation in Eritrea.

Clare Short: We have regular discussions with the Commission. DFID officials visited Eritrea at the end of January and met representatives of the Commission, and discussed the humanitarian situation.
	Since August 2002 the EC has committed 16.3 million for humanitarian work in Eritrea. A consignment of 24,000 metric tonnes of wheat for free distribution is being delivered to the Eritrean Relief and Refugee Commission (ERREC). In addition the Commission's Humanitarian Office (ECHO) are expected to contribute a further 1 million. DFID funds about 19 per cent of EC programmes.

Eritrea

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment her Department has made of the humanitarian situation in Eritrea.

Clare Short: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Glasgow, Anniesland, on 1 April 2003, Official Report, column 656W.

Poverty Reduction Strategy

Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the impact of her Department's adoption of SWAPs and the PRSP approach on the support made available by NGOs.

Clare Short: We have not undertaken an assessment of the impact of the adoption of SWAPS and PRSP approaches on support made available by NGOs. DFID provides Civil Society Organisation (CSO) funding through several means and for different purposes. The total given through UK CSOs has remained around 190 million for the past three years. More details are in the table which shows the amounts given over the past three financial years.
	
		
			  19992000 200001 200102 
		
		
			 Total 195 184 191 
			 Of which
			 Country Programme 75 50 54 
			 Humanitarian assistance 34 73 69 
		
	
	Country Programme funds are those given to CSOs to undertake development activities on behalf of DFID channelled through individual bilateral and multilateral programmes. The full set of figures, recipients and an explanation of terms is shown in Statistics on International Development Table 14. Figures for 200203 will be published in this year's edition in October.

Research and Development

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made since the publication of the Development White Paper in increasing commercial incentives to invest in research and development to meet the needs of poor people.

Clare Short: For medicines there is a range of innovative public options that can be employed. These were explored through a working group on Access to Medicines which was published in November 2002. DFID investment in public/private partnerships for research and development for medicines is of the order of 21.5 million which includes the Medicines for Malaria Venture and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. In addition, the Chancellor has introduced new tax credits to promote research and development into diseases that predominantly affect people living in developing countries.
	Prospects are also promising in rural and agricultural environments where new initiatives are being developed to connect developing country demand for technological improvements with relevant technologies in the public and private sectors.

Sexual and Reproductive Health

Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list bilateral aid for sexual and reproductive health and rights, broken down by (a) project, (b) programme, (c) technical, (d) grants, (e) humanitarian aid and (f) CDC investments, in 200203.

Clare Short: In 200102, the latest year for which data are available, DFID's new commitments to working towards our reproductive health policy goals totalled 268 million. These included 140 million for the Global Health Fund. In total these commitments represent approximately 19 per cent. of all bilateral aid commitments recorded during 200102.
	Figures for 200203 will be published in Statistics On International Development in October. These figures will exclude the assistance in this sector that we provide through other multilateral channels.

Sexual and Reproductive Health

Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding her Department gave to sexual and reproductive health through the CSCF in (a) 200001, (b) 200102 and (c) 200203.

Clare Short: DFID has provided the following funding to sexual and reproductive health, some of which is also HIV/AIDS related support, through the Civil Society Challenge Fund (CSCF).
	
		
		
			  Funding through CSCF 
		
		
			 200001 377,040 
			 200102 1,084,496 
			 200203 1,672,917

Sexual and Reproductive Health

Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether her Department is supporting NGOs in (a) Afghanistan and (b) Iraq to deliver reproductive health care.

Clare Short: DFID provided approximately 1.5 million to NGOs in Afghanistan to deliver a variety of primary healthcare services, including reproductive healthcare during 200102 and 200203. Our humanitarian aid for 200304 will be focussed on the priorities identified in the Afghan Transitional Authority's National Development Budget, to assist refugees and internally displaced persons. Primary healthcare will be a component of this strategy.
	DFID is currently supporting a number of NGOs in Iraq working in the health sector, including reproductive health. These include Merlin, International Medical Corps, Save the Children UK and GOAL.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what British forces are engaged in Afghanistan; what plans he has to replace them; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: There are currently some 340 British troops serving in Afghanistan, predominantly with the International Security Assistance Force, where our current commitment is to provide forces until August 2003. Decisions on their replacement will be taken over the coming months.

Armed Forces Pay

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) the Armed Forces Pay Review Body concerning income tax exemptions for service personnel in the Gulf;
	(2)  what estimate his Department has made of the cost of providing UK service personnel in the Gulf with a four-month income tax exemption; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: There have been no discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer or the Armed Forces Pay Review Body concerning income tax exemptions for service personnel in the Gulf. The longstanding rulerecognised by successive Governmentsis that Crown servants, including members of the armed forces, are chargeable to income tax on their Government salaries wherever they are serving.
	No estimate has been made by the Ministry of Defence of the cost of providing United Kingdom service personnel in the Gulf with a four-month income tax exemption.

Armed Forces Pay

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average level of pay is of British service personnel serving in the Gulf.

Adam Ingram: The pay structure of the United Kingdom armed forces, has incremental scales for every rank and two separate pay spines for non-commissioned personnel, dependent on their trade. Many will also be in receipt of allowances and those personnel with specific skills, for additional pay. An average figure would therefore be misleading.
	However, rates of pay, additional pay and certain allowances are published annually in the Armed Forces Pay Review Body Report for all ranks up to Brigadier and equivalent, and the Senior Salaries Review Body Report for ranks above Brigadier. Copies of the 2003 Reports can be found in the House of Commons Library.

Cadets

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has allocated to the marketing and promotion of the (a) army, (b) air and (c) sea cadets, in each of the last 10 years; and what plans he has to change the recruitment procedures.

Lewis Moonie: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Cadets

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many cadets there were in (a) the army cadets, (b) the air cadets and (c) the sea cadets in each of the past 10 years; and how many have been recruited to each in each of the last 10 years.

Lewis Moonie: The strength of the Cadet Forces at 1 April for the last 10 years was as follows:
	
		
			  1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 
		
		
			 Naval Service 22,130 21,660 20,880 21,210 20,690 20,550 19,900 19,690 19,080 18,940 
			 Army 65,120 65,150 63,700 65,410 65,060 64,870 65,740 68,530 66,420 66,840 
			 Royal Air Force 43,730 43,840 43,700 42,390 41,780 41,240 42,700 43,730 42,810 43,540 
		
	
	Information on the number of cadets recruited into each of the services over the last 10 years is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Cadets

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many applications his Department has received from (a) the army cadets, (b) the air cadets and (c) the sea cadets for processing for Criminal Record Bureau checks in the past six months; how many of those applications have been processed; and what representations he has received on the time taken to process such applications.

Lewis Moonie: The number of applications made to the Criminal Record Bureau and the number of clearance certificates issued for the six month period ending 15 April 2003 are set out below:
	
		
			 Cadet Force Applications to CRB Certificates Issued 
		
		
			 Sea Cadet Corps 423 314 
			 Army Cadet Force 653 260 
			 Air Training Corps 125 14

Devonport Dockyard

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on recent security measures implemented at Devonport Naval Dockyard.

Adam Ingram: It is not Ministry of Defence policy to comment on specific security measures, although the security practices and procedures at all three HM Naval Bases are subject to regular review and are adjusted or enhanced according to assessed threats. Following the incident in November last year when two anti-nuclear demonstrators gained access to HMS Vanguard at the Devonport Dockyard, which is owned by Devonport Management Limited, a specialist Defence Logistics Organisation Team investigated the incident and made proposals aimed at preventing a recurrence. The details of these proposals are being withheld under Exemption 1 (Defence, security and international relations) of the Code of Practice on access to Government Information.

Field Hospitals

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what have been the deployments of 33 Field Hospital and 202 Field Hospital (V) during 2003.

Lewis Moonie: During 2003, 33 Field Hospital deployed on Operation TELIC in Kuwait from 14 February to 10 April. 202 Field Hospital (V) also deployed on Operation TELIC in Kuwait on 12 March and will remain there for the time being.

HMS Ark Royal

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  when HMS Ark Royal will redeploy to the United Kingdom;
	(2)  what have been the movement plans for HMS Ark Royal during 2003; and what changes there have been to these plans.

Adam Ingram: Having successfully completed Operation TELIC tasking, in her Landing Platform Helicopter role, HMS Ark Royal, together with her escort, HMS York and RFA Fort Victoria are on passage to the United Kingdom. Following a period of work with FA2 Harriers in the Mediterranean, HMS Ark Royal and accompanying ships will anive in the UK in mid May.
	HMS Ark Royal originally deployed in January at the head of Naval Task Group 03, a long-planned deployment to the Gulf and Asia Pacific regions. NTG 03 formed part of the Royal Navy's contribution to Operation TELIC, but with the successful completion of the initial phases of operations, three of the NTG 03 units are able to re-deploy to meet some of their original commitments. It has however, been decided that the priority for HMS Ark Royal is to return to the UK to undertake necessary work to allow for her to be available as soon as possible for future tasking.

Iraq

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of (a) the number of cluster bombs dropped and (b) the number of weapons incorporating low yield uranium used by British forces in the Iraq war.

Geoff Hoon: As at 17 April, United Kingdom Forces have dropped in the region of 66 clusterbombs in the Iraq conflict. These have been used against large troop concentrations, armour and artillery in the open. The UK has no weapons incorporating low yield uranium in our inventory.

Iraq

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what the status is of detainees held at Camp One, Umm Qasr;
	(2)  how many prisoners were detained at Camp One, Umm Qasr in each week since its opening; what the capacity is of the camp; and what steps are being taken to establish further prison camps;
	(3)  on how many occasions the military tribunal at Camp One, Umm Qasr has met; how many cases it has heard; what the breakdown is of its adjudications; and how many detainees have been released;
	(4)  what arrangements have been made at Camp One, Umm Qasr to allow each detainee to exercise their freedom of religious belief and practice; and how many civilian and military persons are engaged to minister to each faith represented among detainees;
	(5)  what statutory authority the tribunal system for detainees at Camp One, Umm Qasr has; by what means the panel adjudicators were appointed; what the rules and procedures of the tribunal are; and if he will place a copy in the Library;
	(6)  what facilities have been made available for the welfare of detainees at Camp One, Umm Qasr;
	(7)  how many UK legal experts and advisors are serving among coalition forces in Iraq; and how many are attached to Camp One, Umm Qasr;
	(8)  how many prisoners captured by Her Majesty's Armed Services in Iraq have been handed over to the custody of the United States or other military authorities;
	(9)  how many requests he has received from the United States for named persons in Iraq to be handed over or otherwise transferred to the custody of the United States in the event of their capture;
	(10)  what provision has been made at Camp One, Umm Qasr for the segregated accommodation of different political factions and religious groups;
	(11)  what measures are taken at Camp One, Umm Qasr to give effect to the right of detainees to family life; and what arrangements are in place for detainees to (a) be visited, (b) make telephone contact, (c) send and receive letters, (d) receive parcels and (e) receive Red Crescent packages;
	(12)  what written materials are made available for detainees upon reception at Camp One, Umm Qasr; and in what languages these are made available;
	(13)  which belligerent states recognise and have agreed to hand over prisoners into the military jurisdiction of Her Majesty's Government at Camp One, Umm Qasr;
	(14)  how many civilian lawyers and human rights experts have been sent to Iraq with coalition forces; and how many are stationed at Camp One, Umm Qasr;
	(15)  how many meals are served each day at Camp One, Umm Qasr; what steps have been taken to ensure the religious and dietary requirements of detainees are met; and what the average daily calorific intake is of each prisoner;
	(16)  what steps he has taken to ensure that detainees at Camp One, Umm Qasr may exercise their right to select and be represented by legal counsel before the military tribunal;
	(17)  how many service personnel are engaged in functions related to security, administration and maintenance of Camp One, Umm Qasr;
	(18)  how many interrogation rooms are situated in the vicinity of Camp One, Umm Qasr; what the maximum number of hours each day a detainee may be interrogated is; what the guidelines and rules governing interrogation procedures are; and if he will place a copy in the Library;
	(19)  what steps he is taking to establish an independent tribunal under a recognised legal authority to determine the status of detainees in Iraq;
	(20)  what language groups are represented among detainees at Camp One, Umm Qasr; what proportion of detainees speaks each language; and how many translators are available for each language.

Adam Ingram: I will write to my hon. Friend and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Ministerial Travel

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list internal flights made by Ministers in his Department in 2002, including in each case the (a) cost, (b) departure location and (c) destination; and of these how many were (i) first class, (ii) business class and (iii) economy class.

Lewis Moonie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 22 January 2003, Official Report, column 334W by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Mr. Alexander) and to my answer of 24 February 2003, Official Report, column 139W to the hon. Member for Chelmsford, West (Mr. Burns).

Scotland

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many times he has visited Scotland on official duties each year since 2000; and what meetings were held on each occasion.

Lewis Moonie: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence visited Scotland on one occasion in 2001.
	I am withholding details of any meetings in accordance with Exemptions 2 and 7 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. It is not the normal practice of Governments to release details of specific meetings or their content, as some of these discussions may have taken place on a confidential basis.

Service Accommodation

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what policy he has to ensure that the quality and size of service accommodation offered to families is superior to their previous billet; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: The Defence Housing Executive (DHE) manages service families accommodation (SFA) in Great Britain and since its formation in 1995 has made significant progress in improving the general standard of service housing. About half of the long term core housing stock is now at Standard 1 for Condition (SlfC). The upgrade programme will continue with demanding targets set for the DHE each year, against the services' long term requirements for family housing. As a result many service families will move into better accommodation than they have experienced previously.

Service Personnel (Gulf)

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on delays in delivering packages and mail to British forces serving in the Gulf.

Adam Ingram: There are no delays in movement of mail into theatre from the United Kingdom. Collection from Forces Post Offices in theatre and final delivery to individuals is a unit responsibility, and timings will vary according to the operational tempo of individual units.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Bovine TB

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on progress made in Northern Ireland to eradicate bovine TB.

Ian Pearson: Bovine tuberculosis is among the most difficult animal health problems facing Northern Ireland. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has a range of measures in place to control bovine TB. There is an extensive programme of identification and removal of infected animals, combined with control on movements. DARD test all animals annually and all animals that show a positive result to the test are slaughtered. More stringent rules are applied to tests where there is known infection in the herd. Animals may not be moved from infected herds until the problem is resolved. This prevents onward spread.
	DARD has also recently completed a policy review of all aspects of the existing control measures for this disease to identify what further or different measures are necessary to reduce the incidence of TB. The aim of the Policy Review is to reduce the incidence of TB substantially within five years and to achieve a year-on-year reduction in the meantime. An announcement on taking forward the policy review recommendations will be made shortly.

Bovine TB

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cattle were infected with tuberculosis in Northern Ireland in each of the last 12 months; what the average period of time taken to remove infected cattle from herds after receiving tuberculosis test results was in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement on how the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is dealing with the problem.

Ian Pearson: In the 12 month period from 1 April 2002 there have been 16,359 Bovine Tuberculosis reactors. The average time from completion of the Tuberculin test to slaughter of these reactors is 23.7 working days. The figures for each month are as follows:
	
		
			 Month Number of TB reactors Working days test to slaughter 
		
		
			 April 2002 1,291 24.1 
			 May 2002 1,117 21.3 
			 June 2002 655 22.5 
			 July 2002 706 19.2 
			 August 2002 1,310 21.4 
			 September 2002 1,062 21.1 
			 October 2002 1,199 22.2 
			 November 2002 2,182 25.4 
			 December 2002 1,456 30.2 
			 January 2003 2,313 26.2 
			 February 2003 1,745 23.0 
			 March 2003 1,323 15.6 
			 Total 16,359 23.7 
		
	
	Bovine Tuberculosis is among the most difficult animal health problems facing Northern Ireland today. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has a range of measures in place to control bovine TB, There is an extensive programme of identification and removal of infected animals combined with control on movements. DARD test all animals annually and all animals that show a positive result to the test are slaughtered. More stringent rules are applied to tests where there is known infection in the herd. Animals may not be moved from infected herds until the problem is resolved. This prevents onward spread.
	To facilitate the removal of reactor animals, additional livestock valuation officers have been recruited and additional capacity added for the slaughter of reactors, which are older than 30 months of age. The process from completion of the Tuberculin test to slaughter of a reactor is being closely monitored and efficiencies sought. It is important to appreciate that because of the current high levels of Brucellosis in Northern Ireland that the removal of reactors to this disease is given priority which has an effect on the removal of TB reactors.
	DARD has also recently completed a policy review of all aspects of the existing control measures for this disease to identify what further or different measures are necessary to reduce the incidence of TB. The aim of the Policy Review is to reduce the incidence of TB substantially within five years and to achieve a year on year reduction in the meantime. An announcement on taking forward the policy review recommendations will be made shortly.

Brunei Citizens (Training)

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what arrangements there are for the training of Brunei citizens in Northern Ireland.

Jane Kennedy: No specific arrangements have been made for the training of Brunei Citizens in Northern Ireland.
	Should a demand for such training emerge the Northern Ireland Department for Employment and Learning will respond as appropriate.

Castlereagh break-in

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when Sir John Chilcot presented his report on the break-in at Castlereagh on 17 March 2002 to the Government.

Paul Murphy: Sir John Chilcot has not completed his report into the break-in at Castlereagh Police Station. I will inform the House when I have received the report.

Departmental Finance

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much money remained unspent at the end of each of the past five years in respect of financial allocations to the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety; and how much of this unspent allocation has been returned to the Treasury in each of these years.

Ian Pearson: With the introduction of Devolution in Northern Ireland in December 1999, NI Departments restructured and increased in number from six to 11, thus it is not possible to provide the information requested in respect of DHSSPS prior to 1999. In addition, information on 200203 will not be available until June and the table which follows therefore covers the period 19992000 to 200102.
	
		
			  Underspend  million Amount returnedto Treasury 
		
		
			 19992000 (25)13.8 Nil 
			 200001 (25),(26)17.6 Nil 
			 200102 (27)49.1 (28)Nil 
		
	
	(25) Cash basis.
	(26) For the 200001 year, the departmental budget was planned, managed and controlled on a cash basis, with a retrospective adjustment to a resource basis to facilitate the transition to Resource Accounting and Budgeting. However, the cash figure better reflects departmental performance in managing spend for that year.
	(27) Resource basis.
	(28) In accordance with the Treasury End Year Flexibility Scheme, the original claim for 200102 was based on provisional outturn and amounted to 39.6 million. The difference between this and the final underspend figure of 49.1 million will be drawn down in 200304, subject (as is always the case in respect of end year flexibility) to agreement by the Treasury of the necessary call on the Reserve.

Fallen Stock

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the methods of disposal of fallen stock on farms in Northern Ireland.

Ian Pearson: Guidance on the current methods of disposal of fallen stock is available from Divisional Veterinary Offices in Northern Ireland.
	Agriculture Departments will shortly be writing to all UK livestock farmers explaining the changes to disposal methods, pending the introduction of the EU Animal By-Products Regulation, which will ban the on-farm burial or burning of fallen stock with effect from 30 April 2003.

Hilton Hotel Group

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list (a) the sums of public money allocated to the Hilton Hotel Group in each year since 1996 in relation to its Belfast hotel development and (b) the Northern Ireland agencies that allocated these monies.

Ian Pearson: The information is as follows:
	(a) The sums of public money allocated to the Hilton Hotel Group in each year since 1996 in relation to its Belfast hotel development were as follows:
	
		
		
			  Funding DSD NITB 
		
		
			 1996 4,000,000.00 4,000,000.00  
			 1997 2,291,437.42 2,000,000.00 291,437.42 
			 1998 608,562.58  608,562.58 
			 1999 100,000.00  100,000.00 
			 Total 7,000,000.00 6,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 
		
	
	(b) The Northern Ireland agencies that allocated these funds were Laganside Corporation (6 million) an Executive NDPB of the Department of Social Development and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (1 million) an Executive NDPB of the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment.

Into the West

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the Into the West audit report will be made public; if he will list the board members of Into the West; and what the role and title are of (a) public servants and (b) elected representatives who have served on the board of the Company.

Ian Pearson: The propriety and value for money reports were made public on request on 27 March 2003, I have arranged for a copy of the reports to be placed in the Library of the NI Assembly and will make a similar arrangement in this House. Full details of the ITW Board representation are contained in an annex to the value for money report.

Manslaughter and Reckless Driving

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have been convicted of (a) causing death by reckless driving and (b) manslaughter in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

Paul Murphy: The table presents the number of convictions for the offences of (a) causing death by reckless driving and (b) manslaughter, for the years 1995 to 1999. Data beyond 1999 are currently not available.
	
		
			  Number of convictions for causing death by reckless driving Number of convictions for manslaughter 
		
		
			 1995 10 5 
			 1996 6 8 
			 1997 7 6 
			 1998 9 8 
			 1999 9 15

Manslaughter and Reckless Driving

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average length of sentence handed down for the offence of causing death by reckless driving in Northern Ireland was in the past five years.

Paul Murphy: The table presents the average immediate custodial sentence length in months for the offence of causing death by reckless driving for the years 1995 to 1999. Data beyond 1999 are currently not available.
	
		
			  Average sentence length in months (number of persons) 
		
		
			 1995 20 (5) 
			 1996 20 (3) 
			 1997 36 (4) 
			 1998 28 (7) 
			 1999 33 (4)

Manslaughter and Reckless Driving

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average length of sentence handed down for the offence of manslaughter was in Northern Ireland in the past five years.

Paul Murphy: The table presents the average immediate custodial sentence length in months for the offence of manslaughter, for the years 1995 to 1999. Data beyond 1999 are currently not available.
	
		
			  Average sentence length in months (number of persons) 
		
		
			 1995 52 (4) 
			 1996 119 (8) 
			 1997 65 (6) 
			 1998 70 (7) 
			 1999 63 (12)

Mobile Homes Act

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if it is his policy to extend the Mobile Homes Act 1983 is to be extended to Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Des Browne: The 1983 Act covers mobile homes in designated areas that are generally referred to as Park Homes, As this is a unique type of tenure and there are no such areas in Northern Ireland it would be inappropriate to introduce equivalent provisions.

Post Office Closures

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much time is allocated for public consultation on the proposed closure of post offices.

Stephen Timms: I have been asked to reply.
	Under the Code of Practice on proposed closures of post offices agreed between Post Office Ltd. and Postwatch, a public consultation period of not less than one month is stipulated.

Primary School Funding

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much of the 1.4 billion recently awarded to primary schools in Northern Ireland was allocated to (a) each board, (b) the Council for Curriculum Examinations and Assessment, (c) the Catholic Council of Maintained Schools, (d) the RTU and (e) elsewhere; and whether each Education and Library Board retains the same percentage of allocated funds for administration costs.

Jane Kennedy: The Department of Education's 200304 resource budget for school-related expenditure amounts to some 1,485 million, of which 992.8 million has to date been allocated to the Education and Library Boards for recurrent costs. The specific information requested is as follows:
	(a) Allocations to individual Boards, and the amounts allocated by Boards in respect of primary schools:
	
		 million
		
			   Of which: 
			  Schools Primary schools 
		
		
			 BELB 171.887 59.765 
			 NEELB 211.669 76.692 
			 SEELB 194.588 77.839 
			 SELB 226.899 86.807 
			 WELB 187.769 72.038 
			 Total 992.812 373.141 
		
	
	(b) Resource allocation to CCEA: 11.672 million
	(c) Resource allocation to CCMS: 2.384 million
	(d) Resource allocation for RTU: 2.331 million (included in BELB allocation at (a) above).
	(e) Elsewhere: some 478 million, not all yet allocated.
	The percentage of Education and Library Board recurrent budgets which relates to Headquarters Administration varies across individual Boards, principally because of the incidence of five-Board and lead Board services provided by individual Boards. The overall percentage of Department of Education funded Board budgets expended on HQ Administration costs has dropped in each of the last four financial years. Excluding provision for five-Board and lead Board services, the latest available information is as follows (percentage of recurrent budget spent on Headquarters Administration):
	
		Percentage
		
			  Financial year 200203 
		
		
			 BELB 2.42 
			 NEELB 2.11 
			 SEELB 1.79 
			 SELB 1.78 
			 WELB 1.97 
			 Total 2.0

Regional Paediatric Services

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on regional paediatric services.

Des Browne: A number of hospital services for children are provided on a regional basis because of the small case volume and the specialised staff, facilities or equipment required. Examples of regional paediatric services include paediatric cardiac surgery conducted at the Royal Victoria Hospital, paediatric intensive care, provided at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, paediatric neurosurgery services and paediatric pathology. Like other regional services, regional paediatric services are commissioned by the Regional Medical Services Consortium, a body comprising representation from each of the four Health and Social Services Boards.

TREASURY

Tax Credits

Mike Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to improve the training of staff who deal with inquiries from members of the public who wish to make a claim for Working Families Tax Credit; what research his Department has commissioned to measure the level of customer satisfaction with the service provided; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit were introduced on 6 April 2003 to replace Working Families' Tax Credit, Disabled Person's Tax Credit and Children's Tax Credit.
	Staff dealing with inquiries have received training covering all aspects of entitlement to Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit (including the child care element of the Working Tax Credit), as well as the mechanics of claiming and paying the new tax credits.
	Tax credits recipients are included within the Inland Revenue's annual survey of customer service performance indicators.
	Both training needs and levels of customer satisfaction are kept under constant review.

Tax Credits

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much he expects to spend on overhead costs as a result of the introduction of the child and working tax credits in each year between 200203 and 200506.

Dawn Primarolo: The overhead costs of administering the child and working tax credits are expected to be 300 million per annum in line with the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA), published in July 2002.

Tax Credits

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many complaints have been received in respect of the helpline for the child tax credit and working tax credit.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 8 April 2003
	Details of the number of complaints received in respect of the helpline are not held centrally.

Tax Credits

Paul Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he has taken to publicise the take-up of tax credits on the internet; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 11 April 2003
	The publicity campaign for the two new tax creditschild tax credit and working tax credit began in September 2002 followed by four further phases of advertising in October, November, January and March. These phases have included TV, radio, press and online advertising as well as direct mailings, posters and leaflets. The tax credit website was promoted in all activity, continuing the drive to encourage eligible claimants to claim online.

Tax Credits

Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many applications were received for working families tax credit in each year since it was introduced; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 11 April 2003
	Working families tax credit was introduced on 5 October 1999. The number of applications received in each year (April to March inclusive) was as follows:
	
		
			  Number of applications 
		
		
			 19992000 1,270,000 
			 200001 2,700,000 
			 200102 2,950,000 
			 200203(29) 2,260,000 
		
	
	(29) Awards terminating from 2 December 2002 were automatically extended to April 2003, so no applications were required to renew these awards.

Tax Credits

Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how long it will take to reach a decision on applications for working families tax credit made in (a) January, (b) February, (c) March and (d) April 2003.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 11 April 2003
	The Inland Revenue tries to process claims for tax credits as quickly as possible. But the date a decision is made depends on a number of factors other than the date on which the claim arrived, including whether the claimant provided all the information required, and whether the claim passed the various pre-award checks.

Tax Credits

Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the number of child tax credit awards for 200304 that will need to be reassessed owing to (a) rises and (b) falls in income between (i) 200102 and (ii) 200304.

Dawn Primarolo: The number of awards that are expected to be reassessed owing to rises in income above 2,500 and any falls in income are published in The Child and Working Tax Credits. Copies are available on the HM Treasury website: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk

Tax Credits

Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people he estimates in the Hemsworth constituency are eligible for the (a) child tax credit and (b) working tax credit; and how many people he estimates will take up these credits in 200304.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, West (Mr. Battle) on 10 April 2003, Official Report, column 506W.

Tax Credits

Michael Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many families are receiving (a) child tax credit and (b) amounts equivalent to child tax credit through income support or jobseeker's allowance and will be automatically transferred onto child tax credit before October 2004;
	(2)  what the take-up rate was for working families' tax credit in each year since 1999; what target he has set for the take-up rate for working tax credit; and what estimate he has made of the likely take-up rate of working tax credit.

Dawn Primarolo: Working families tax credit (WFTC) replaced family credit (FC) on 5 October 1999.19992000 was therefore the transition year between FC and WFTC, and no estimates of the take-up rates of WFTC in that year are available. Estimates for 200001 are on the Inland Revenue website, at inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/wftc/takeup rates.htm. No reliable estimates for 200102 can be attempted until the Family Resources Survey for that year is analysed.
	From 6 April 2003 WFTC was replaced by child tax credit (CTC) and working tax credit (WTC). It is expected that around 1.35 million families with and without children will receive WTC. Statistics on CTC and WTC awards will be published quarterly, beginning in August 2003.
	Around 1.3 million families with children are expected to benefit in 200304 from additional support for children though income support or jobseeker's allowance, until they move onto CTC in 2004.

Tax Credits

Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the basis is for his estimate that nine out of 10 families with children are eligible for the Child Tax Credit; and if he will make a statement on the number of families represented by this estimate.

Dawn Primarolo: The basis for the estimate that nine out of 10 families with dependant children are eligible for the Child Tax Credit is the Family Resources Survey.

Unemployment (Over 50s)

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of (a) men and (b) women aged over 50 is unemployed.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Nigel Waterson, dated 28 April 2003
	As National Statistician. I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about unemployment rates for men and women aged over 50. (110181)
	The unemployment rate for men aged 50 or over is 4.1 per cent and the unemployment rate for women aged 50 or over is 2.4 per cent. These estimates are from the Labour Force Survey, for the three month period ending February 2003, and are seasonally adjusted.

Working Population

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the working age population is over 50.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Nigel Waterson, dated 28 April 2003
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning the percentage of the working age population who are over 50. (110182)
	For the United Kingdom in mid-2001, 24.4 per cent of the working age population (1664/59 for males and females respectively) are aged 50 and over (5064/59 for males and females respectively).

Age Discrimination

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department is taking to address the issue of age discrimination.

Ruth Kelly: The provisions in the Code of Practice on Age Diversity in Employment are embedded within the Treasury's equal opportunities policies in accordance with the Performance and Innovation Unit's Winning the Generation Game: report. Policies are in place to ensure that there are no unfair or unlawful barriers to employment or advancement in the Treasury. These policies are kept under constant review.

Building Contracts

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  whether PFI and PPP building contracts have to meet environmental criteria set by his Department or by others, beyond the requirements of building regulations;
	(2)  what arrangements are in place to ensure that PFI and PPP building contracts meet high environmental standards.

Paul Boateng: Joint guidance promoting high environmental standards in PFI and PPP projects was issued in July 2002 by the Office of Government Commerce; the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; the Department for Transport and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
	Moreover, by integrating the design, build and operational aspects of a project into a single financial package, PFI helps to maximise efficiency, including energy efficiency, over the whole life of the contract.

Child Trust Funds

Michael Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether children eligible for the child trust fund but born before accounts are set up will receive interest on the Government's payments into the fund during that interim period.

Ruth Kelly: As stated in the Budget, the Government will publish its full proposals for the Child Trust Fund in summer 2003.

Child Trust Funds

Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he plans to take account of funds paid by the Exchequer into child trust funds in the future calculation of the savings ratio.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Graham Brady dated 28 April 2003
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question on child trust funds.
	The treatment of child trust funds in the national accounts has not yet been decided.

Climate Change Levy

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received about the Climate Change Levy (General) (Amendment) Regulations.

John Healey: Following the Chancellor's 2002 announcement to extend the current CCL exemption for good quality electricity produced in Combined Heat and Power (CHP) stations, a number of representations were received from trade associations and individual businesses commenting on a draft of the Climate Change Levy (General) (Amendment) Regulations 2003. After the Regulations were made and laid, one further representation was received from an organisation seeking to clarify its position in relation to simplified arrangements for small scale CHP.

Company Employee Development Schemes

David Chaytor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether company employee development schemes remain exempt from being treated as a taxable benefit under the Budget proposals.

Ruth Kelly: If the hon. Gentleman has in mind employment training and skills development, there is nothing in the Budget proposals to affect any existing tax exemption for such employer provided training.

Departmental Accommodation

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the value of purpose built office accommodation owned by the Office of National Statistics at Drummond Gate in London, referred to in the 2001 National Asset Register; what the value is of motor vehicles owned by the ONS; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: holding answer 8 April 2003
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. David Laws, dated 28 April 2003
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning the estimated value of purpose built office accommodation owned by the Office of National Statistics at Drummond Gate in London, referred to in the 2001 National Asset Register, and what the value of motor vehicles owned by the ONS. (107444).
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) rents Drummond Gate from the Metropolitan Police. However, ONS includes on its balance sheet the cost of building refurbishments at Drummond Gate, the written down value of which at 31 March 2003 amounts to 21,384,000.
	The written down value of motor vehicles owned by ONS at 31 March 2003 amounts to 96,000.

Earnings

Michael Foster: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 16 December 2002, Official Report, columns 6067W, on average earnings, how much more reliable the new earnings survey figures are for (a) the West Midlands region and (b) Herefordshire and Worcestershire than the figures for Worcestershire.

Nick Raynsford: I have been asked to reply.
	The reliability of average earnings estimates can be gauged by looking at the coefficient of variation for that estimate. That is the standard error of the average, expressed as a percentage of the average. The smaller the coefficient of variation, the better the estimate. For the areas stated above the average weekly wage and coefficient of variation are as follows:
	
		
			 Area Average Gross Weekly Earnings ()(30) Coefficient of variation (%) 
		
		
			 West Midlands Government Office region 427.30 0.9 
			 Hereford and Worcester ACA area 395.13 1.6 
			 Worcestershire 400.5 1.9 
			 Hereford UA 375.7 3.0 
		
	
	(30) New Earnings Survey, April 2002, Full-time employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey period was unaffected by absence.
	The difference between the above figure for the Hereford and Worcester ACA area and that given on 16 December 2002, reflects the fact that unitary authorities are excluded from the published estimates of New Earnings Survey average wages in county areas. Therefore, the Hereford and Worcester estimate given previously corresponds to Worcestershire only.

Economic Cycle

Michael Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to paragraph C4 of Budget 2003, if he will set out his assumption of the date, by quarter, for the ending of the current economic cycle.

Ruth Kelly: As shown in Chart B4 on page 226 of the 2003 Budget Report (HC500), the current economic cycle is projected to end in the fourth quarter of 2005.

Employment Statistics (Hemsworth)

Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of working age people in the Hemsworth constituency were in employment in (a) 200203 and (b) 199697.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Jon Trickett, dated 28 April 2003
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question about employment in the Hemsworth constituency. (109900)
	The working age employment rate in the Hemsworth constituency for the twelve month period ending February 1997 was 60.1 per cent. The rate for the twelve month period ending February 2002 was 65.5 per cent. These estimates are from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Estimates of employment rates for Parliamentary Constituency areas for the twelve month period ending February 2003 are not yet available.

EU Committees

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list (a) the names, titles and grades of the officials who sit on the EU Economic and Financial Committee, (b) the number of times, and the dates, on which it has met since January 2002, (c) the agenda items it has considered since January 2002, (d) the decisions it has made since January 2002 and (e) the means used to communicate the decisions to the House.

Ruth Kelly: The role and responsibilities of the Economic and Financial Committee are set out in Article 114(2) (ex 109c(2)) of the EU Treaty and in the Statutes of the Economic and Financial Committee, which were adopted by the ECOFIN Council on 31 December 1998.
	Since the start of January 2002, The Economic and Financial Committee has met on 20 occasions. In accordance with Article 114(2) of the EU Treaty, member states each appoint two members of the Committee: the UK is represented by one official from HM Treasury and one official from the Bank of England. Each of these representatives has one Alternate.
	The items considered by the Economic and Financial Committee since January 2002 were those discussed in the following months by the ECOFIN Council. The Government updates Parliament after each ECOFIN Council meeting in the form of a response to a written Parliamentary Question. Accountability and transparency to Parliament is further ensured by the regular EU scrutiny process.

Financial Services

Patsy Calton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the level of access to insurance, pensions and mortgage services among teenagers who are recovering from cancer.

Ruth Kelly: The Treasury has made no assessment of the level of access to financial services among teenagers who are recovering from cancer.

Foreign Investment

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the value of a multi-national agreement on foreign private investment in developing countries.

John Healey: The UK government recognises that foreign direct investment (FDI) is important for developing countries. It establishes long-term commitments and lasting assets, which bring new technologies, skills and products into developing countries. The UK Government has made an assessment that a basic framework of multilateral rules on FDI will reinforce sound domestic policies to attract FDI. Such a framework would help developing countries send a positive signal to potential foreign investors about the permanence of policy changes and the expected standard of treatment afforded to foreign investors.
	Existing multilateral rules only partially cover FDI issues, and the proliferation of bilateral investment treaties does not provide a substitute for a coherent, basic framework of multilateral rules. Moreover, the UK government believes that the proposed agreement will have particular benefits for smaller developing countries which do not have the resources to negotiate numerous bilateral treaties or devise and implement an investment regime independently. We believe that the EU proposal under which WTO members would choose which sectors they wish to open up to FDI, offers a balanced and flexible approach, preserving countries' right to regulate in order to pursue national development objectives.

Iraq

Michael Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 1 April 2003, to the hon Member for Eddisbury (Mr. O'Brien), Official Report, column 616W, on Iraq, what representations he has received from aid agencies and other non-governmental organisations regarding the likely cost of humanitarian aid in Iraq; and what discussions he has had with (a) ECOFIN and (b) the UN regarding the funding of measures to meet humanitarian needs.

John Healey: The Chancellor has not received any formal written representations from aid agencies or other non-governmental organisations regarding the likely cost of humanitarian aid in Iraq.
	ECOFIN has not formally discussed the funding of measures to meet humanitarian needs. However the commission has reported to ECOFIN Ministers its preliminary assessment in relation to the allocation of funds for humanitarian aid from the EU budget at the Informal ECOFIN on 5 April. The Paymaster General attended this meeting for the UK.
	There have been no discussions between the Chancellor and the UN regarding the funding of measures to meet humanitarian needs in Iraq.
	The Chancellor announced on 27 March that a total of 240 million had been set aside for humanitarian assistance in Iraq. 90 million of this is from the Department for International Development budgets and 120 million from the Reserve. In addition, 30 million has been allocated for the Ministry of Defence to provide immediate assistance on the ground. In his Budget Statement on 9 April, the Chancellor set aside 60 million to back up the UN and the work of reconstruction and development in Iraq. This is additional to the funds already earmarked for Iraq.

Market Research

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what expenditure has been incurred by his (a) Department, (b) agencies and (c) non-departmental bodies in 2002 on (i) opinion polling, (ii) focus groups and (iii) other forms of market research; and if he will list the surveys commissioned and the purpose of each.

Ruth Kelly: Detailed information in the form requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Marriage Ceremonies

Brian Iddon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost of marriage ceremonies is for each of the registration districts in England and Wales, for (a) weekday and (b) weekend ceremonies.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Registrar General. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Dr. Brian Iddon, dated 28 April 2003
	As National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning the cost of marriage ceremonies for each registration district. (109996)
	The cost of a civil marriage ceremony at a register office in England and Wales is 34.00 for any day of the week. The fee for civil marriages in approved premises, which are buildings approved by local authorities for the solemnisation of civil marriages, are set by local authorities on a cost recovery basis. Marriage fees for the Church of England. Church in Wales and other religious denominations are determined by the religious body concerned. Information on the cost of marriage ceremonies outside register offices is not held centrally.

New Business Creation

Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will make a further statement about the proposal to allow local authorities to share with Her Majesty's Treasury the benefits of new business creation outlined in the Budget speech.

John Healey: The Government will consult this summer on the detailed proposals for a scheme to allow local authorities to retain some or all of the increases in business rates revenue as a result of economic growth in their area.

Public and Utilities Contracts

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received about the Public Contracts (Work Services and Supply) and Utilities Contracts (Amendment) Regulations.

Paul Boateng: I have not received any representations about these Regulations.

Public Liability Insurance

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the level of premiums charged for public liability insurance in 200304 compared to 200203; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: We do not collect regular information on UK public liability insurance premium costs, nor forecast changes in the level of premiums.

Public Service Agreement

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what grades of officials are responsible for the monitoring of progress towards the public service agreement targets of the department.

Paul Boateng: Monitoring progress towards the department's PSA targets is undertaken by a wide variety of staff at all levels of the organisation.

Share Owning

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the UK population have held shares in each year from 1974 to date.

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the UK population have held shares in each year since 1973.

Maria Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
	Information is not available in the format requested. Such information for Great Britain is available in the table.
	
		Percentage of adults
		
			  Type of saving 
			  Stocks and shares Stocks and shares, ISAs, PEPs, TESSAs, unit trusts 
		
		
			  
			  
			 199798 22 31 
			 199899 21 31 
			 19992000 20 32 
			 200001 19 34 
			 200102 19 37 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. All figures are estimates and are taken from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). A consistent series for assets and savings is available from 199798. 200102 is the latest year for which data is available.
	2. Adults include all those aged 16 and over, except for 16 to 18-year-olds in full-time non-advanced education; all adults in the household are interviewed as part of the FRS.
	3. Figures for investment income are particularly problematic. Questions on assets are a sensitive part of the FRS questionnaire and have relatively low level of response, and hence higher levels of imputation, compared to other parts of the survey. Responses are imputed in around one in 10 cases.
	4. The estimates are based on sample counts that have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors that control for tenure type, council tax band and a number of demographic variables. Estimates are subject to sampling error and remaining response bias.
	5. The final column of the table shows the percentage of adults reporting one or more of the categories: stocks and shares, unit trusts, TESSAs, PEPs and ISAs. Note that not all ISAs, PEPs, unit trusts and TESSAs will be share based.
	Source:
	Family Resources Survey (Great Britain).

Special Advisers

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the salary bill was for special advisers in his Department in 200203; and what it is expected to be in 200304.

Ruth Kelly: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to him by the Minister of State, Cabinet Office on 24 April.

Suicides (Hemsworth)

Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many male suicides there were in Hemsworth in (a) 1992, (b) 1997 and (c) 2001.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Jon Trickett, dated 28 April 2003
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning how many male suicides there were in Hemsworth in (a) 1992 (b) 1997 and (c) 2001. (109914)
	The figures requested are given in the table below:
	
		Number of male deaths from suicide and injury undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted(31), Hemsworth parliamentary constituency(32), 1992, 1997 and 2001(33)
		
			 Year Number of deaths 
		
		
			 1992 5 
			 1997 7 
			 2001 6 
		
	
	(31) The cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes E950-E959 and E980-E989 excluding E988.8 for the years 1992 and 1997, and, for the year 2001, the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes X60-X84 and Y10-Y34 excluding Y33.9 where the Coroner's verdict was pending.
	(32) Figures relate to deaths of people resident in Hemsworth parliamentary constituency based on its boundaries in 2001.
	(33) Figures are for deaths registered in these years.

Tax Credits

Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many award notices for the (a) child tax credit and (b) working tax credit have been issued.

Dawn Primarolo: There is a single award notice for both child tax credit and working tax credit.
	By 9 April 2003, about 3.2 million award notices had been issued. This includes notices issued to single adults and to each partner in couples.

Tax Credits

Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the targets for processing (a) child and (b) working tax credit claim forms and the performance against those targets.

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue will be set targets for the future administration of the new tax credits system later this year once there is sufficient experience of live running to make those targets both challenging and achievable.

Tax Credits

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many calls have been made to the tax credit helpline in each month since it was established.

Bill Tynan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many telephone calls the Inland Revenue Children's and Working Tax Credits helpline dealt with in (a) February and (b) March 2003.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 1 April 2003
	A helpline was set up in August 2002 to handle detailed inquiries about the two new tax credits. The number of calls answered at the helpline in Great Britain in each month since then is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Calls received 
		
		
			 August 2002 28,453 
			 September 2002 179,484 
			 October 2002 324,381 
			 November 2002 394,205 
			 December 2002 267,757 
			 January 2003 851,851 
			 February 2003 1,168,131 
			 March 2003 2,486,846

Tax Credits

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many phone calls the Child Tax Credit helpline has received over the last month.

Dawn Primarolo: The latest month for which complete information is available is March 2003. The Great Britain tax credit helpline answered 2,486,846 calls in this month.

Tax Credits

Roy Beggs: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many awards for the (a) child tax credit and (b) working tax credit have been paid in Northern Ireland.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for Havant (Mr. Willetts) on 19 March 2003, Official Report, column 760W.

Tax Credits

Roy Beggs: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the targets for processing child and working tax credit claim forms and the performance against those targets for Northern Ireland in the latest year for which figures are available.

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue will be set targets for the future administration of the new tax credits system later this year once there is sufficient experience of live running to make those targets both challenging and achievable.

Tax Credits

Roy Beggs: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in Northern Ireland (a) were entitled to and (b) received the children's tax credit in the last year for which figures are available.

Dawn Primarolo: Based on household survey data, it is estimated that about 125,000 families in Northern Ireland could benefit from the children's tax credit.
	No estimate can be made of the number of families in Northern Ireland actually benefiting from the children's tax credit for 200102 until the Survey of Personal Incomes is compiled towards the end of this year.

Tax Credits

Paul Burstow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many applications were (a) made, (b) outstanding, (c) approved and (d) refused in each of the last six months for the working families tax credit; and what the cumulative backlog in applications was at 31 March.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 14 April 2003
	The figures requested are:
	
		
			  Applications received in month Awards made in month Other disposals in month(34) Applications on hand(35) at last Friday in month 
		
		
			 October 2002 335,000 303,000 62,000 75,000 
			 November 2002 166,000 182,000 27,000 32,000 
			 December 2002 55,000 52,000 19,000 20,000 
			 January 2003 54,000 40,000 14,000 19,000 
			 February 2003 34,000 27,000 9,000 18,000 
			 March 2003 52,000 13,000 6,000 (35)53,000 
		
	
	(34) Estimated by subtracting from the number of applications received the number of awards made and the increase in the number of applications on hand.
	(35) Excluding applications received but not yet registeredthere were about 3,000 of these at the end of March 2003.

Tax Relief Regulations

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received about the Community Investment Tax Relief (Accreditation of Community Development Finance Institutions) Regulations.

John Healey: The Government have received a number of representations about the Community Investment Tax Relief. Ministers and officials have also met interested parties to discuss the tax relief.
	11 community development finance institutions (CDFIs) were recently accredited for the community investment tax relief and have been enabled to raise over 35 million from private sector investors. Applications from a further seven CDFIs are currently being considered. Full details are available on the Small Business Service website.

VAT (Charities)

Paul Marsden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the level of irrecoverable VAT levied on charities.

John Healey: Customs and Excise does not hold data about the level of irrecoverable VAT incurred by charities.

CABINET OFFICE

Accountancy Services

John Bercow: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the total cost to his Department was for accountancy services in 200203.

Douglas Alexander: My Department does not keep central record of this information, therefore the answer can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Age Discrimination

John Bercow: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps the Department is taking to address the issue of age discrimination.

Douglas Alexander: The Cabinet Office has integrated age into its equal opportunity policies and is committed to ensuring that there should be no unfair discrimination. It is the Department's policy that everyone should have equality of opportunity on the basis of their ability, qualifications and suitability for the work.
	The Department will continue to tackle any negative attitudes towards older staff particularly through the training and development of managers and through the monitoring of recruitment, selection and performance statistics.
	The Cabinet Office has reviewed its retirement policy for grades below the Senior Civil Service in line with the recommendations of the Cabinet Office report 'Winning the Generation Game'. The normal retirement age is 60 years but retention beyond this age up to age 70 is possible subject to departmental needs, regular attendance and effective performance.

Civil Service

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Mr. Llwyd) of 1 April 2003, Official Report, column 794, on the Civil Service, what the recruitment figures are for his Department.

Douglas Alexander: From 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002 there were 79 new recruits to the Cabinet Office, which breaks down as follows:
	51 were female (64 per cent.)
	19 were from ethnic minorities (24 per cent. )
	one disabled person was recruited

Code of Practice

Graham Allen: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when the Cabinet Office Code of Practice on Written Consultation came into force; whether it applies to all legislation; if he will amend the Code of Practice to ensure a 12-week period of pre-legislative scrutiny is included in all bills; and what plans he has to place the Code of Practice on a statutory footing.

Douglas Alexander: The Cabinet Office Code of Practice on Written Consultation came into force on 1 January 2001 and applies to all public consultations. It does not apply to parliamentary pre-legislative scrutiny, the arrangements for which are a matter for the two Houses. My Department has no plans to place the Code of Practice on a statutory footing.

Part-time Workers

John Bercow: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of the impact of the Part-time Workers Directive on staff in the Office.

Douglas Alexander: The Cabinet Office is committed to monitoring its policies and procedures to ensure there is no adverse impact on part-time staff.
	For example, the Department has undertaken an equality audit of its new pay procedure, which included a review of pay awards and working patterns. The results are to be published shortly.
	The Department promotes job opportunities for part-time staff by ensuring all departmental vacancies are open to part-time and job-sharing staff, unless there are justifiable business reasons why this is not possible.
	Additionally, support is also provided via a departmental network for staff with part-time and alternative working patterns. The Network also works as a consultative body and helps to shape new Human Resources policies.

Regions White Paper

Joyce Quin: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what progress his Department has made towards the aim in the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice, of assessing the balance of staff between the centre and the regions in terms of effective policy design and implementation; and what examples there have been since the publication of the White Paper of the Cabinet Office deciding between locating new streams of work (a) in and (b) outside London and the South East.

Douglas Alexander: The Cabinet Office has a network of offices outside London and the South-East, and considers the geographical location of its offices as part of its normal business planning activity. Recent reviews have, however, concluded that the majority of the Cabinet Office and new streams of work need to continue to be based in London to enable the Department to carry out its central coordinating role effectively.

MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Stalking and Harassment

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Minister for Women how many female victims of (a) stalking and (b) harassment there were in 200102.

Patricia Hewitt: The 2001 British crime survey included a self-completion component on domestic violence, sexual victimisation and stalking. Analysis of data from this module is underway, and the Home Office hopes to publish the results this summer.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Arms Exports (Syria)

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list UK arms sales to Syria from 1998 to 2002.

Nigel Griffiths: The Department of Trade and Industry's Export Control Organisation records details of all export licence applications issued and refused, which are published by destination in the Government's Annual Reports on Strategic Export Controls. Copies of the 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001 Annual Reports are available in the Libraries of the House. The 2002 Annual Report will be published in due course.
	The granting of a licence does not necessarily translate into actual arms sales.

Arms Exports (Syria)

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list UK military licences granted to Syria in 2003.

Nigel Griffiths: Between 1 January 2003 and 7 April 2003, no Standard Individual Export Licences or Open Individual Export Licences were issued, where the end users were in Syria.

National Minimum Wage

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the additional costs that will be imposed on the care homes sector as a result of the increase in the national minimum wage.

Alan Johnson: The independent Low Pay Commission looked at this issue in their recent report to the Government. They estimated that their recommended increases in the minimum wage rates for 1 October 2003 would increase the wage bill in the social care sector by up to 0.5 per cent.

Broadband

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many SMEs in (a) Suffolk, (b) Norfolk, (c) Essex, (d) Cambridgeshire and (e) the Bury St Edmunds constituency were connected to broadband in (i) 2000, (ii) 2001 and (iii) 2002.

Nigel Griffiths: These data are not available.

Departmental Offices

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the locations are of her Department's offices, including those of the Manufacturing Advisory Service, in the East of England.

Alan Johnson: The Manufacturing Advisory Service in the East of England has an administrative head office at the Centre for the Advancement of Manufacturing and Technology in Chelmsford. Its Chief Executive is based at Cranfield University.
	The offices of the Small Business Service, Trade Partners UK and the East of England Development Agency are located in Histon, near Cambridge.
	The Government Office for the East of England and Invest East of England are in Cambridge.
	The Business Link offices are in Huntingdon, St. Albans, Luton, Ipswich, Swaffham and Chelmsford.
	The Insolvency Service has Official Receiver offices in Cambridge, Ipswich, Norwich, St Albans and Southend on Sea.
	Oil and Gas Industry Development have an office in Great Yarmouth.

Departmental Pay

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made with the pay review in her Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies for which she is responsible, with particular reference to the gender pay gap; and if she will make a statement.

Patricia Hewitt: My Department, including the Small Business Service Executive Agency has completed a review of its pay system in line with the commitment given by this Government in response to the EOC Task Force's Just Pay report. An Action Plan setting out how the Department plans to address the issues identified will shortly be in place.
	Many of the NDPBs for which my Department is responsible have also completed reviews of their pay systems.
	Agency Chief Executives will be replying on behalf of their organisations.
	Letter from Dr. Roger Heathcote to Mr. John Bercow, dated 28 April 2003
	You tabled a question on 1 April to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry asking what progress had been made with the pay review in her Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies for which she is responsible, with particular reference to the gender pay gap. I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Employment Tribunals Service (ETS), which is an agency of the DTI.
	In response to the Equal Opportunities Commission's Task Force Just Pay report, the Government has agreed that all departments and agencies will review their pay systems by April 2003 and prepare action plans to close any equal pay gaps.
	The ETS is in the process of finalising its review and action plan and will forward this to the Cabinet Office by 30 April 2003. ETS will share the review and action plan with the DTI and the PCS Trade Union.
	Letter from Dr. J. W. Llewellyn to Mr. John Bercow, dated 28 April 2003
	The Secretary for Trade and Industry has asked me to reply on behalf of the National Weights and Measures Laboratory (NWML) to your question on what progress has been made with the pay review in her Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies for which she is responsible, with particular reference to the gender pay gap; and if she will make a statement.
	As a small specialist Agency of only 57 staff, NWML conducted an equal pay review in 2001, which did not identify any problems. We are currently in the process of completing a further review, which will be complete before the end of April.
	Letter from Mr. Desmond Flynn to Mr. John Bercow, dated 28 April 2003
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question on pay reviews and the gender pay gap (2002/1997) insofar as it touches on the Insolvency Service Executive Agency.
	Following the commitment by the Government to ask all Departments and Agencies to respond to the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) Task Force 'Just Pay' report, I can inform you that The Insolvency Service has completed a review of its pay system. An Equal Pay Action Plan designed to bridge any equal pay gaps, has been prepared and was provided to the Cabinet Office on the 31 March this year.
	The results of our review played a major role in designing the pay remit for the Insolvency Service for the years 2002/3 and 2003/4.
	Letter from Caren Fullerton to Mr. John Bercow, dated 28 April 2003
	I am replying to this parliamentary question, tabled on 1 April 2003, about progress made on pay reviews.
	The Patent Office is in the middle of a three-year pay deal which was informed by the first of two Equal Pay Reviews that have been completed. The second was completed towards the end of 2002 in anticipation of the Equal Opportunities Commission Task Force Just Pay requirement to prepare an action plan by April 2003 and to test the effectiveness of the measures put in place by the pay settlement. A third Equal Pay Review will be completed before the submission of the pay remit for the Patent Office's next pay deal in Spring 2004.
	Letter from Claire Clancy to Mr. John Bercow dated 28 April 2003
	I am responding to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on progress with pay reviews on behalf of Companies House, an Executive Agency of the DTI.
	Companies House is aware of the commitment made by the Government in response to the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) Task Force 'Just Pay' report. We will meet the Government commitment to undertake an Equal Pay Review by the end of April 2003 and to prepare an action plan to address any gender gaps. Work is underway on this and on schedule.
	You may be interested to know that, over the last few years we have taken a number of steps to audit our pay and reward systems, for example the payment of special review awards. We have also been transforming our pay and reward systems to enable us to move to a system based on 'market rates'. In November 2002 the Trade Union accepted a 3-year pay deal which incorporated:
	the merger of job 'Ranges' to a broader based 'Band' structure;
	the removal of pay band overlaps;
	removal of pay allowances, supplements and enhancements for 'specialists';
	movement to the market rate within a defined period; and
	innovative reward systems based on targets, savings and individual contribution.
	Letter from Ms R. J. R. Anderson to Mr. John Bercow, dated 28 April 2003
	You asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, on 1 April 2003, what progress had been made with the pay review in her Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies for which she is responsible, with particular reference to the gender pay gap. I am replying on behalf of the Radiocommunications Agency.
	The final analysis, together with an action plan will be submitted to the Cabinet Office by the end of April in line with the Government's commitment given in response to the Equal Pay Commission's Task Force Just Pay report.
	The action plan takes us to end 2003. By then, and subject to the passage of the Communication Bill, the Agency is expected to be merged into the new communication regulator, Ofcom. Pay of staff who transfer will then be a matter for Ofcom.

Electronic Commerce Regulations

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received about the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) (Extension) Regulations.

Stephen Timms: None.

Environmental Targets (ACARE)

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the Government policy is on the environmental conclusions, targets and programmes set out in the Advisory Council for Aeronautical Research in Europe's (ACARE) Strategic Research Agenda; and what action will be taken by Her Majesty's Government to implement the programmes recommended by ACARE in order to meet the environmental targets set out in ACARE's Strategic Research Agenda.

Alan Johnson: The reply I gave to the hon. Member on 3 February 2003, Official Report, column 20W, explains what action is being taken to implement the environmental programmes recommended by ACARE. Since that date, the DTI has held a UK dissemination event for the Strategic Research Agenda to increase awareness and participation in carrying forward the challenges. In addition, ACARE has set up an 'Observation Platform' to monitor implementation of the Strategic Research Agenda by all the stakeholders across Europe. DTI will remain fully engaged in these activities.
	The Aerospace Innovation and Growth Team is taking particular note of the ACARE Strategic Research Agenda in preparing its environmental recommendations.

EU Directives

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the EU directives and regulations which have been implemented by her Department since 17 April 2002.

Patricia Hewitt: My Department has implemented 17 EU directives since 17 April 2002. They are as follows.
	
		
			 Number Title/subject matter 
		
		
			 Directive 1994/33 On the protection of young people at work 
			 Directive 1998/30 (36)On the internal market in natural gas  
			 Directive 1998/71 On the legal protection of designs 
			 Directive 1998/101 (36)On batteries and accumulators containing certain dangerous substances 
			 Directive 1999/42 On mutual recognition of qualifications 
			 Directive 1999/44 On the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees 
			 Directive 1999/70 Concerning the framework agreement on fixed-term work 
			 Directive 2000/31 On certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce (e-commerce) 
			 Directive 2000/35 On combating late payment in commercial transactions 
			 Directive 2001/41 On the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations, as regards substances classified as carcinogens, mutagens or substances toxic to reproduction 
			 Directive 2001/90 On the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations (creosote) 
			 Directive 2002/21 On a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services 
			 Directive 2002/22 On universal service and users' rights relating to electronic communications networks and services 
			 Directive 2002/34 On the approximation of laws relating to cosmetic products 
			 Directive 2002/39 On the opening to competition of Community postal services 
			 Directive 2003/1 On the approximation of laws relating to cosmetic products 
			 Directive 2003/16 On the approximation of laws relating to cosmetic products 
		
	
	(36) In Northern Ireland, completing implementation in the UK.

Exports (Syria)

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what procedures are followed in respect of the approval of chemical exports to Syria.

Nigel Griffiths: All relevant export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria and other previously announced Government policies.
	These are set out in Appendix F of the Government's 2001 Annual Report on Strategic Export Controls a copy of which is available in the Libraries of the House.

Medical Research Council

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  how many of the unsuccessful alpha plus rated research grant applications to the Medical Research Council could have been awarded if an additional 8.1 million of funds were available;
	(2)  what the definition of commercial exploitation is in the accounts of the Medical Research Council; and for what reason the level of commercial exploitation in the MRC account has increased by 40 per cent.

Patricia Hewitt: The term commercial exploitation is used to cover all the activities concerning the exploitation of the intellectual property generated from research within the Medical Research Council's own institutes and units. It therefore covers the income received from licensing MRC's intellectual property and also any payments made in relation to these activities. The majority of expenditure reported in their accounts is covered under items 1 and 2 as follows and arises as a direct consequence of the revenues generated by MRC inventions, and received by the MRC, in the previous financial year. The main items of expenditure are:
	1. Payments to the budgets of originating MRC units and inventors under the awards to inventors schemea scheme similar in scope to those operated by most UK Universities and designed to provide incentives for MRC units and staff to assist in the identification, protection and exploitation of inventions.
	2. Payments of revenue shares to external bodies who have licensed rights to the MRC in return for share of income. 3. The management fee paid to MRC Technology (the company affiliated to the MRC which manages MRC intellectual property).
	4. Fees for patents and legal costs relating to MRC inventions.
	Overall, the MRC's exploitation activities are a net contributor to MRC funding in universities and MRC units.
	In 200102 there was a 40 per cent. increase in expenditure on commercial exploitation due to exceptional payments under MRC's revenue sharing schemes. This reflects, in part, the exceptionally high income in 200001 resulting from the sale of part of MRC's shareholding in Cambridge Antibody Technology.
	It is difficult to put a figure on the number of grants that could have been funded had an additional 8.1 million been available as grant applications vary considerably in length, cost per year and total cost.

Mobile Phones

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to regulate the storage and transmission of picture messages generated by mobile phones; and if she will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: At present there are no plans to introduce specific regulations for the storage or transmission of images generated by mobile phones.

One Northeast

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what interests have been registered by the chair of One NorthEast.

Alan Johnson: John Bridge has been chair of One NorthEast since December 1998 and is currently paid 47,800 per annum for this role. He is also a Member of the Board of English Partnerships and receives remuneration of 11,259 per annum.
	I am advised that his other declared interests are as follows:
	Board member of Northern Sights;
	Chairman of Management Trustees of the Calvert Trust;
	Non-executive director of Kenmore UK Ltd;
	Board Member of the Institute for Automotive and Manufacturing Advanced Practice (AMAP);
	Non-executive director of e-comeleon plc;
	Chairman of North East Seedcorn Capital Fund;
	Chairman of Endeavour SCH plc;
	Board Member of Tees Valley URC;
	Chairman of the National Trust for North East and Yorkshire;
	Member of the European Government Business Relations Council;
	Visiting Professor of Newcastle Business School;
	Visiting Professor of Durham University Business School;
	Honorary Fellow of Sunderland University;
	Member of the Reform Club;
	Trustee of the Spirit of Enterprise;
	Vice Chair of the Regional Policy Forum;
	Chair of the Assessment Panel for SBS Incubator Fund;
	Member of the Treasury Advisory Council for Partnerships (UK);
	Member of the Urban Policy Sounding Board;
	Chairman of Alnwick Garden Trust;
	Vice Chair of the Over the Moon Appeal; and
	Chairman of Durham Cathedral Council.

One Northeast

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much One Northeast spent on entertainment in (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002 and (d) 2003.

Alan Johnson: The following information, which has been provided by One NorthEast, represents the total amount spent by the Agency on entertainment in the specified years:
	
		
		
			  Total amount spent on entertainment 
		
		
			 200102 45,590 
			 200203 66,368 
		
	
	The majority of this expenditure relates to hospitality provided to inward investors and visiting Ministers and dignitaries, including a recent visit by a Select Committee.
	I am advised that figures for 19992000 and 200001 are not available as the accounting systems inherited by the Agency cannot provide this detail.

One Northeast

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much One Northeast spent on external consultants in (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002 and (d) 2003; which (i) companies and (ii) individuals were employed; and what fees were paid.

Alan Johnson: The following information, which has been provided by One NorthEast, represents the total amount spent by the Agency on consultancy work in the specified years:
	
		
		
			  Total amount spent on consultancy work 
		
		
			  
			  
			 (a) 19992000 245,143 
			 (b) 200001 111,170 
			 (c) 200102 263,181 
			 (d) 200203 250,528 
		
	
	These costs do not include the cost of consultancy provided in relation to construction and development work which is an intrinsic part of the budgeted costs of projects managed and delivered on the Agency's behalf.
	I am advised that it is not possible to provide detailed information on the number of different organisations employed or individuals employed. Furthermore, it is not possible to provide details of specific fees paid to individual firms of consultants as this would be in breach of commercial confidentiality.

One Northeast

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much One Northeast spent on external legal advice in (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002 and (d) 2003; which companies were engaged to provide such advice; and what fees were paid.

Alan Johnson: The following information, which has been provided by One NorthEast, represents the total amounts spent on external legal advice in the specified years:
	
		
		
			  Total amount spent onlegal advice 
		
		
			  
			  
			 (a) 19992000 295,260 
			 (b) 200001 187,870 
			 (c) 200102 122,918 
			 (d) 200203 196,386 
		
	
	The Agency's legal panel comprises three legal firms based in the north east region, namely Ward Hadaway, Eversheds and Robert Muckle. The Agency also obtained legal advice from Dickinson Dees in respect of discrete items of work that were tendered competitively outwith the panel arrangements.
	I am advised that it is not possible for the Agency to provide details of the specific fees paid to each firm of solicitors as this would be a breach of commercial confidentiality.

One Northeast

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the costs of establishing the new headquarters of One NorthEast at Newburn Riverside were; and what estimate she has made of the annual running costs of the building.

Alan Johnson: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry gave One NorthEast approval to proceed with the construction of new headquarters following the submission of a detailed business case and the completion of a thorough and rigorous value for money appraisal by the Department. The net cost of the move amounted to 3.3 million. The cost of constructing and fitting out the new building amounted to 9 million, but this was offset by capital receipts of 3 million and 2.7 million respectively from the sale of the Agency's buildings at Great North House, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and St. George's House, Gateshead. The Agency also surrendered its lease of premises at Hadrian House Newcastle and, as a consequence, was able to achieve savings of 50,000 per annum relative to those premises. The new Headquarters uses solar water heating and recycles roof water and this has allowed the Agency to achieve a Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) 'Excellent' rating. A cost v. savings analysis completed by the Agency has shown that the Agency's capital investment in the new building will pay for itself within six years. Annual running costs of the building are currently estimated to be 881,500 (less than 0.5 per cent. of total operating income), which is a significant saving against the operating costs of the three office premises in Newcastle and Gateshead, formerly owned or occupied by the Agency. The co-location of the Agency's core staff of more than 250 personnel in one building was not solely motivated by the clearly demonstrable financial benefits of doing so, but also by the desire to provide improved levels of customer service, and the benefits in terms of improved communication, both internal and external, by having key staff in one building.

Pathfinder Broadband Project

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what advice she has received on the effect of the Competition Act 1998 on the Pathfinder broadband project in Scotland.

Stephen Timms: The Broadband Pathfinder project in Scotland is the responsibility of the Scottish Executive, which takes legal advice as appropriate to ensure that the project satisfies all the relevant legislative requirements.

Post Offices

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent assessment she has made of changes in (a) Post Office footfall, (b) Post Office profitability and (c) benefit take up rates in those areas where the 'Your Guide' pilot scheme operated and was subsequently withdrawn.

Stephen Timms: These are operational matters for Post Office Ltd. And I have asked the Chief Executive to write direct to the hon. Member.

Post Offices

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what elements of the Your Guide pilot scheme have been continued and remained in place as at 1 April.

Stephen Timms: None. The facility was discontinued at the end of the pilot period in March 2002.

Post Offices

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been spent on supporting rural sub-post offices in Suffolk since 1997.

Stephen Timms: The rural network benefits from investment in the network generally. For example, the rural network benefits from the considerable investment in the Network's IT, and in new products, including universal banking services. On automation alone the Government has made the largest ever investment in the Post Office network480 millionmuch of it on the rural network. There is no breakdown of the proportion of this funding that has been spent on supporting rural sub-post offices in Suffolk since 1997.
	A number of measures are already in place to maintain the network of rural post offices. These include the formal requirement placed on the Post Office in November 2000 to prevent any avoidable closures and the establishment of a 2 million capital start up fund to support volunteer and community initiatives to maintain or re-establish a post office facility where the traditional post office is under threat of closure or has recently closed. Under this scheme, grants of up to 20,000 are available to support the costs of relocating or refurbishing alternative premises. Of the 2 million fund to support community post office initiatives 165 grants have been approved, totalling 1,231,454, and payments totalling 931,478 paid as at end of March 2003. To end March 2003, grants from this fund to a total value of 16,933 had been approved in respect of four applications from Suffolk.
	Rural post offices in Suffolk will, of course, benefit from the 450 million package of financial support for the rural post office network that I announced on 2 December.

Post Offices

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) post offices and (b) sub-post offices there were in the Hemsworth constituency in each year since 1996.

Stephen Timms: Except for a special exercise undertaken in 1999 to determine the numbers of post offices in each parliamentary constituency and how many of them derived more than 40 per cent. of their income from benefits work, Post Office Ltd. did not collate data on the numbers of post offices by parliamentary constituency until April 2002, when they compiled such a list of post offices classifying them as urban or rural offices. A copy of this list is held in the Libraries of the House.

Post Offices

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) post offices and (b) sub-post offices there are in the Hemsworth constituency; and how many of them transact more than 40 per cent. of their work from paying benefits and pensions.

Stephen Timms: A special exercise was undertaken by the Post Office in 1999 to determine the numbers of post offices in each Parliamentary constituency and how many of them derived more than 40 per cent. of their income from benefits work. That information is set out in the reply given to the then hon. Member for Birmingham, Erdington on 29 November 1999, Official Report, column 22W, and remains the latest information available in that form.

Post Offices

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the level of disabled access at Maesbrook post office in Shrewsbury.

Stephen Timms: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. and I have asked the Chief Executive to write direct to the hon. Member.

Post Offices

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the effects on (a) pensioners, (b) the disabled and (c) the unemployed of the closure of Meole Brace post office in Shrewsbury.

Stephen Timms: These are operational matters for Post Office Ltd. and I have asked the Chief Executive to write direct to the hon. Member. The proposal to close Meole Brace post office is subject to public consultation under the Code of Practice agreed between Post Office Ltd. and Postwatch.

Post Offices

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps the Post Office has taken to investigate (a) the long-term viability of Meole Brace post office and (b) alternatives to closing the post office.

Stephen Timms: These are operational matters for Post Office Ltd. and I have asked the Chief Executive to write direct to the hon. Member.

Post Offices

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many post office staff based in Shrewsbury were subjected to (a) verbal and (b) physical attacks in the last year.

Stephen Timms: These are operational matters for Post Office Ltd. and I have asked the Chief Executive to write direct to the hon. Member.

Post Offices

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the (a) volume and (b) value of transactions was in the last year at the Meole Brace post office in Shrewsbury.

Stephen Timms: These are operational matters for Post Office Ltd. and I have asked the Chief Executive to write direct to the hon. Member.

Radiocommunications Agency

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received on the Radiocommunications Agency's proposal to realign the 450470 MHz spectrum band; and how many were opposed to the proposal.

Stephen Timms: RA received 17 e-mailed substantive responses, four written substantive responses and 22 telephone responses. These last were asked to respond in writing, but only one did so. In addition, there were 10 e-mail licensing queries and over 200 telephone licensing queries as a result of a follow-up letter sent to RA customers inviting them to respond to the consultation document.
	None of the written or e-mailed responses were in outright opposition to the RA proposals, however most of the responses identified areas of concern that the respondees would wish RA to take into account in the implementation of the project. two of the telephone respondees were opposed to the proposals but these declined to provide written comments.

Radiocommunications Agency

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment of costs to British industry she has made of the Radiocommunications Agency's proposal to realign the 450470 MHz spectrum band; and what cost-benefit analysis she has made.

Stephen Timms: Some preliminary costing information was included in the consultation document. More detail, including a cost-benefit analysis, will be included in the submission I will receive in early May.

Radiocommunications Agency

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the Radiocommunications Agency's proposal to realign the 450470MHz spectrum band; and if she will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: Responses to the consultation document are currently being analysed. A summary of the responses will be published on the RA website in May and a submission will be made to me in the same timeframe for a decision on the way forward. It is therefore too early to make a statement at this stage.

Regions White Paper

Joyce Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress the Department has made towards the aim in the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice, of assessing the balance of staff between the centre and the regions in terms of effective policy design and implementation; and what examples there have been since the publication of the White Paper of the Department deciding between locating new streams of work (a) in and (b) outside London and the South East.

Patricia Hewitt: DTI has established teams in three locations outside London and the South East dealing with automotive and aerospace and defence issues in Birmingham, technical textiles and bioscience in Manchester, and materials and engineering in Leeds. These teams, which form part of DTP s national business relations resource, will build better joint working links with regional partners to provide an improved service to business. They will enhance the way knowledge is pooled from both the national and regional levels to enhance the design and implementation of policy.
	The 30 million UK Broadband Fund was distributed to Regional Development Agencies and Devolved Administrations for them to develop regional and local pilots for extending access to broadband. The UK Broadband Taskforce, established in November 2002, has put a Regional Broadband Coordinator in each of the Regional Development Agencies to use the aggregated public sector demand for broadband connectivity as a mechanism to extend broadband availability.
	The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the Budget plans to examine relocation of public services with the aim of achieving best value for money. He has asked Sir Michael LyonsDirector of the Institute of Local Government Studies at Birmingham Universityto advise on relocation by the next Spending Review.

Small Businesses

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the impact of recent rent increases in the south east region on small retailers; and if she will make a statement.

Nigel Griffiths: The Department has not been asked to make such an assessment since rent increases incurred by small businesses are not subject to control by the Government.

Small Businesses

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans her Department has to provide assistance for small businesses facing closure as a result of rent increases; and if she will make a statement.

Nigel Griffiths: Rent increases incurred by small businesses are determined by market forces and are not subject to control by the Government.
	Business Links can provide advice and support for small businesses facing difficulties or those wanting to diversify as a result of a crisis. Business Links can also advise small businesses on a number of disaster management strategies. Business Link services are either free or charged at affordable rates. Small businesses in difficulty can contact their local Business Link operator by telephone on 0845 600 9006 or via the website www.businesslink.org.

Steel Industry

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether she has had discussions recently with employers and unions on the steel industry to rebuild confidence and partnerships in the industry.

Alan Johnson: I fully recognise how worrying the current situation must be for Corus employees and the communities involved. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry is in close contact with the company and with the steel trade unions. She continues to encourage them to work together to ensure we have a strong viable steel industry in the UK.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Energy Policy

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement, in relation to her Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which her Department is responsible, on (a) the amount of energy consumed, (b) spending on (i) energy and (ii) energy efficiency measures, (c) the amount saved through energy efficiency measures and (d) energy policy in each of the last five years.

Kim Howells: The information requested is not available for a five year period. For 200102 expenditure on energy, including water, was 133,210. During 200203 the Department signed-up Office of Government Commerce contracts to better manage energy and water usage and expects to see further reductions in use and cost of those utilities. Annual data for 200203 is still being collated. Information for 60 non-departmental bodies is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

National Lottery

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether the licence to operate the National Lottery issued by the National Lottery Commission to the Camelot Group Plc needed the approval of the European Commission.

Richard Caborn: The licence to operate the National Lottery issued by the National Lottery Commission to Camelot Group Plc did not need the approval of the European Commission.

National Lottery

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what steps she is taking to ensure that the bid process for the third licence term to operate the National Lottery (a) avoids the controversies of the last bid process and (b) attracts more than one serious bid;
	(2)  what plans she has to nationalise the National Lottery; and whether she is examining alternative ways of operating the National Lottery.

Richard Caborn: The Government published a consultation document last year, which sought views on a number of options for changes to the statutory framework for the licensing of the National Lottery. The options included making the National Lottery Commission responsible for running the Lottery, rather than licensing a company to do so; and also included changes intended to secure more competition to run the Lottery, or for more companies to participate in it. We aim to announce conclusions shortly.

Youth Development (Football)

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when the Government will contribute its grant to The Football League's Youth Development Programme.

Richard Caborn: The Government have committed 6 million to the Football League's Youth Development Scheme for the seasons 200203 to 200506. The Government are working towards including this 6 million in a wider funding package for sport and the arts, which I expect will be finalised before the beginning of the next football season. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State made this clear to the Chairman of the Football League when she met him on 20 March.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Benefits

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people collect benefits from post offices in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK.

Malcolm Wicks: Pursuant to my written answer given to Parliamentary Question 103559 of 20 March 2003, Official Report column 911W information available on the number of people that receive benefits by a method of payment collectable from post offices as at 25 January 2003 is in the table. Included in these figures are customers paid by Girocheque. Girocheques are encashable either at a post office or they can be paid into a bank or building society account.
	Some customers who are paid direct into an account can also collect their benefit in cash at post offices through network banking arrangements at the post office. There are no data available on the number of benefit claims collected in this way.
	
		
			  Total benefit recipients Payable at post offices 
		
		
			 Jarrow constituency 35,911 26,511 
			 South Tyneside 68,886 51,931 
			 North East 1,073,900 747,964 
			 Great Britain 21,641,051 12,456,733 
		
	
	Note:
	1. People in receipt of more than one benefit may have those benefits combined to a single benefit account. Figures are in terms of these accounts.
	2. Figures for Great Britain are for England, Scotland and Wales. Information for Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland Office.
	3. The 'Payable at post offices' column represents customers who have their benefit paid either entirely by paper method, or at least one of their benefits is by paper if they are receiving a combination of benefits and some are being paid direct.

Benefits

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations he has received about the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department began consultation with the Local Authority Associations on the draft Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations in mid-November. The consultation exercise ended on 7 January. Formal responses to the consultation were received from the Local Government Association and the Association of London Government.

Benefits

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the savings to public funds from ending benefit book payments to beneficiaries.

Malcolm Wicks: The move to payment directly into bank and building society accounts assures a safe, convenient, more modern and efficient way of paying benefits and will bring substantial savings in administration and encashment costs.
	However, the final figure will depend upon the choice made by the customer when choosing their payment method.

Child Support Agency

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 4 April 2003, Official Report, column 912W, on the Child Support Agency, how many successful applicants did not name the other parent in a child maintenance case in each calendar year.

Malcolm Wicks: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith, and he will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. Steve Webb, dated 28 April 2003
	The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in replying to your recent parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You ask pursuant to his answer of 4 April 2003, Official Report, column 912W on the Child Support Agency if he will provide a breakdown for each calendar year of the total number of successful applicants who did not name the other parent in a child maintenance case.
	I am able to provide you with approximate figures, which are as follows:
	
		
			 To 31 March  
		
		
			 1998 23,000 
			 1999 22,000 
			 2000 20,000 
			 2001 27,000 
			 2002 14,000 
			 2003 12,000 
			 Total 118,000

Lone Parents

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on the reasons given by lone parents in Hendon for (a) declining to participate in New Deal and (b) failing to retain employment obtained (i) through New Deal and (ii) otherwise;
	(2)  what barriers to work he has identified as facing lone parents in Hendon; what he plans to do to overcome those barriers; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Brown: Research carried out to investigate the labour market participation of lone parents in London found that the three top barriers to employment were availability and cost of child care, concerns about financial uncertainty in moving from benefit into work and cost of housing and council tax to a lone a parent in work.
	Informal feedback is that lone parents in Hendon are reporting similar concerns as those identified by the research.
	The New Deal for Lone Parents offers advice and support tailored to the individual needs of each lone parent which takes account of any particular problems they face because of the area they live in.
	There are currently two New Deal for Lone Parents advisers working full-time at Hendon Jobcentre. Both work in outreach in the community and have surgeries at Hendon and Edgware Social Security offices. The local Jobcentre Plus district has a marketing strategy focused on lone parents which has included job fairs with children's activities, school breakfast clubs and outreach surgeries.
	The combination of the child care component of our new Tax Credits and the extra places created through our National Childcare Strategy are making child care affordable and accessible for parents moving into work. Lone Parents can also benefit from payments of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit at pre-work levels for four weeks following starting work to help them through what can be a difficult transition period. Combined with the national minimum wage and working tax credits, we are making work possible and making work pay.
	In addition, the Budget announced a number of measures to help overcome barriers to work, including Discovery Week pilots to boost and increase the familiarity of lone parents with the help and support available to them. From 2004 we will also introduce a new mentoring service across the country tailored specifically for lone parents; and from April 2004 child care tester pilots to allow lone parents to test whether formal child care suits their needs.

New Deal 50 Plus

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proposals he has to make the New Deal 50 Plus Scheme available to over 50s on the first day they become unemployed.

Nick Brown: We have no plans for day one entry to New Deal 50 plus. New Deal programmes are aimed at those most in need of help to find sustainable employment and move from welfare to work. The majority of unemployed people, including those aged 50 and over, find work unassisted within the first six months of unemployment.
	Our Green Paper Simplicity Security and Choice: Working and Saving for Retirement, sets out our proposals to further increase the employment of older people and to widen choice and opportunity for older people to stay in work longer. The proposals include a package of more intensive back to work help for people aged 50 and over including extending the support available through New Deal 50 Plus so that individually tailored help for each customer can be drawn from a range of possible options.

Pension Credit

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the age addition on the state pension is worth per week; if he plans to increase the pension credit; and if he will allow pensioners to claim mobility benefit.

Maria Eagle: The age addition for state pensioners aged 80 and over is 25 pence per week.
	Pension credit will be increased at least in line with earnings for the rest of this Parliament.
	There are no plans to change the rules governing entitlement to the disability living allowance mobility component.

Pensioner Households

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average percentage difference between men's and women's pensions was in (a) 1973, (b) 1980, (c) 1990 and (d) 2000; what measures he is taking to reduce the gap; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: We have answered the question in relation to the average amounts of state pension paid to men and women. The available information is shown in the following table:
	
		Average amounts of state pension in payment
		
			  All  ( per week) Men  ( per week) Women  ( per week) Women's pension as a percentage of men's 
		
		
			 December 1972 6.34 7.00 5.99 85.6 
			 November 1980 25.27 28.21 23.64 83.8 
			 September 1990 46.04 54.76 41.36 75.5 
			 September 2000 67.40 81.71 59.05 72.3 
		
	
	Notes and sources:
	1. Figures for all years for women include pension paid on their own and their husband's contributions.
	2. 1990 and 1980 figures exclude increase for dependants.
	3. 1972 figures exclude old person's pension.
	4. Pension Strategy Computer System, 5 per cent. sample at 30 September 2000.
	5. Social Security Statistics September 1990, November 1980 and November 1972.
	We recognise that the majority of pensioners are women, and are committed to ensuring that our pension reforms improve women's pension rights.
	Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) was introduced in 1978 to assist people, especially women, who were precluded from work for periods by caring responsibilities, to maintain their entitlement to basic state pension. The state second pension introduced in April 2002 is of particular benefit to women, many of whom work part-time or as carers.
	We have announced that HRP will be extended to foster carers for each full tax year for which they are registered as an approved foster carer. This means that they will be covered for periods when they are awaiting a placement and will benefit emergency foster carers who are ready to take in a child at any time. It is expected that around 7,000 to 8,000 foster carers will benefit from this each year.
	In addition to changes to state pension, we have made other changes that will be of particular help to women. We introduced the winter fuel payment which is worth 200 per household and the minimum income guarantee which this year is 102.10 a week for a single pensioner and 155.80 for a couple. From October 2003, the new pension credit will benefit lower income pensioners further still. Two thirds of people receiving pension credit will be women, half of whom will be aged 80 or over. Also, in the 2003 Budget we announced that an extra 100 will be paid to households with someone aged 80 or over for the lifetime of this Parliament.
	In April 2001, stakeholder pensions were introduced as part of the long-term reforms to ensure that everyone has the chance to save for a decent income in retirement.
	So far, a series of leaflets have been produced to inform the public of the pension options open to them. One of thesePensions for Womenoutlines the pension options available specifically for women. Also in the recent Green Paper Simplicity, security and choice: Working and saving for retirement we have said that we propose to look at how best to ensure that women are aware of their pension position and the choices they make.

Press Office

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are employed in his Department's press office; and how many were employed on 2 May 1997.

Maria Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Twickenham (Dr. Cable) on 23 July 2002, Official Report, column 1038.
	The Department of Work and Pensions was formed on 8 June 2001 from parts of the former Department of Social Security, parts of the former Department for Education and Employment, and the Employment Service.
	The Department currently employs 15 press officers. A further 15 press officers work in the regions (England, Scotland and Wales) providing specific advice on local services that are now being rolled out.
	For the year 1997, I refer the hon. Member to appendix 11 of the Report on GIGS by the Select Committee on Public Spending (28 July 1998) where Appendix 11 lists the number and cost of press officers per Department in 1997, 1998 and 1999.

Sure Start

Ivan Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what initiatives are being funded through the Sure Start scheme within the Harwich constituency.

Maria Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 13 March 2003, Official Report, column 409W.

Weekly Pension Payments

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the 25p weekly payment to pensioners over 80 will be kept as a distinct payment.

Maria Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer given to the hon. Member for Bolton, South-East (Dr. Iddon) on 11 April 2003, Official Report, column 471W.

LORD CHANCELLOR

Child Protection Services

Edward Garnier: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what estimates the Department has made for local government expenditure on legal advice for child protection services for (a) 200001, (b) 200102 and (c) 200203.

Jacqui Smith: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested is not held centrally.

Energy Policy

Tim Yeo: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will make a statement, in relation to the Lord Chancellor's Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which the Department is responsible, on (a) the amount of energy consumed, (b) spending on (i) energy and (ii) energy efficiency measures, (c) the amount saved through energy efficiency measures and (d) energy policy in each of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: The amount of energy consumed, and spending on energy and energy efficiency measures as well as the amount saved through energy efficiency measures are summarised in the following table.
	
		
			  Energy consumption(37) (GWh/y) Energy expenditure(38) (m/y) Energy/m2(39)(kWh/m2/y) Savings over 199798(40)(percentage) Energy Efficiency Spend(41) (k/y) 
		
		
			 199798 182.32 5,218,420 244.96  800,000 
			 199899 186.82 5,282,774 251.37 -3 265,000 
			 19992000 167.08 5,021,175 226.38 8 525,000 
			 200001 163.98 4,591,211 223.14 9 321,000 
			 200102 149.68 4,983,831 204.06 17 278,000 
		
	
	(37) Energy consumption: this is weather-corrected in the usual manner, using annual degree days relative to the 20 year average for 199001. The figures are those reported on for the central Government estate campaign, and generally include each Department's main estate plus all agencies, but not NDPBs.
	(38) Energy expenditure: this is actual spend, and from April 2001, includes the Climate Change Levy.
	(39) Energy/m2: this variable allows for changes in both weather and estate size on energy consumption. So annual changes will generally reflect efficiency changes.
	(40) Savings over 199798: These have been expressed as percentage savings relative to the first year quoted here, and are based on the figures in the preceding column.
	(41) Energy efficiency spend: Note that this is not necessarily a good measure of an effective energy efficiency policy. For example, when a new building is commissioned or an existing one refurbished, good design can actually reduce capital costs, eg by avoiding air conditioning. The costs of an effective energy management team may also not be included.
	This Department does not hold figures for its NDPBs and is not able to provide this without incurring disproportionate cost.
	The Energy White Paper, Our Energy FutureCreating a Low Carbon Economy made clear the importance the Government attaches to improving energy efficiency in its own estate. This is reflected in several targets. There is currently an interim target of a 1 per cent. per annum on-going reduction in weather-corrected carbon emissions, pending the development of new indicators and targets based on benchmarking the performance of each Department's largest buildings. These new targets are planned to be in place later this year. New targets for Government Departments' use of CHP generated electricity will also be established during 2003.
	In addition, the review of Government procurement has identified areas where procurement could reinforce the achievement of these targets, and arrangements are being made centrally for Departments to purchase goods with high energy efficiency standards and which provide good value for money.
	On the purchase of renewable electricity, Ministers agreed the following target in May 2001:
	All departments will ensure that by 31 March 2003, at least 5% of their electricity comes from renewable sources that are exempt from the Climate Change Levy or from self generation, provided this does not entail excessive cost. This will rise to at least 10% supply from such sources by 31 March 2008, but will be reviewed after 31 March 2003 to take account of market conditions following the introduction of the renewables obligation. The review of 2003 will include consideration of increasing or bringing forward the target.

European Working Groups

John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will make a statement on progress with achieving transparency in respect of the European working groups for which the Lord Chancellor's Department is responsible.

Yvette Cooper: The Government have long been committed to greater openness in the EU Institutions. This was a key theme of the UK Presidencies in 1992 and 1998. Making it easier to gain access to non-sensitive documents is crucial to this. The Government welcomed Regulation 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. As a result, more documents are released to the public, while genuinely sensitive documents are given the protection they need.
	Much of the Council's work takes place in preparatory bodies, including working groups.
	Accountability and transparency of Council business to Parliament are ensured by the scrutiny process, to which the Government are also firmly committed.
	We strongly supported the measures agreed at the Seville European Council to make the Council more open when in legislating mode. We remain committed to increasing transparency. The Future of Europe Convention is also looking at ways to make the EU more open.

Exhibitions

Tim Yeo: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will list events at which the Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which the Department is responsible have exhibited in each of the last three years, stating for each (a) the purpose of exhibiting, (b) the cost of exhibiting and (c) the number of staff attending for the exhibition.

Rosie Winterton: Information for this is not held centrally and is not readily available. It could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Legal Services

John Burnett: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what representations she has received regarding (a) abolition of the current cost of living increases for Community Legal Service contracts and (b) automatic annual uprating of funding for Community Legal Service contracts in line with the Retail Prices Index.

Rosie Winterton: My Department receives regular representations on remuneration rates for the Community Legal Service (CLS). However, we have has received no representations on the abolition of cost of living increases for CLS contracts. As at 16 April, my Department had received 28 letters and three parliamentary questions from Members; and 13 letters direct from members of the public on the automatic annual uprating of funding for CLS contracts.

Legal Services

John Burnett: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proposals she has for improving access for socially excluded people to justice in civil law disputes in areas where there are no firms bidding for Community Legal Service contracts.

Rosie Winterton: Through the on-going development of the Community Legal Service, the Legal Services Commission has introduced initiatives to improve access to specialist advice in civil matters for the socially excluded, including a number aimed at those who live in areas where there may be a shortage of contracted suppliers. The initiatives include telephone advice pilots in categories such as debt, employment, housing and welfare benefits, as well as outreach contracts through which law firms and other service providers deliver advice sessions at a range of venues such as community centres and GP surgeries. In addition, the first round of the Partnership Innovation Budget funds 76 projects utilising fresh methods of advice provision in areas where supply is limited.

Legal Services

John Burnett: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what consultations the Lord Chancellor's Department has undertaken on the appropriateness of placing duties on local government to (a) participate in Community Legal Service Partnerships and (b) include Community Legal Service coverage in their strategic plans.

Rosie Winterton: My Department has not formally consulted on the issue of a statutory duty either compelling local authority participation in Community Legal Service (CLS) Partnerships, or compelling the inclusion of CLS coverage in local authority strategic plans. From the outset of the CLS, local authorities have demonstrated a willingness to participate actively in the emerging CLS Partnerships. Their participation is regarded as central to the success of each CLS Partnership. These now involve over four hundred local authorities and cover over 99 per cent. of the population of England and Wales. The introduction of a Best Value Performance Indicator measuring the percentage of local authority expenditure on CLS quality marked services has provided an incentive for local authorities to include the CLS as part of their own strategic plans.

Legal Services

John Burnett: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans the Lord Chancellor's Department has to carry out an evaluation of the Community Legal Service; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: My Department will commission an independent review of the Community Legal Service (CLS) scheduled to begin in the autumn of 2003 and to report in April 2004. The terms of reference will be finalised shortly. It is likely that the review will assess how the CLS has impacted on the accessibility of legal advice services at a local level and the ways in which policy development has influenced the targeting of resources within communities. It is also likely that consideration will be given to the relationship between the CLS and the wider social exclusion agenda and the linkages that have been established with the social equity programmes of other Government Departments.

Legal Services

John Burnett: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what assessment the Lord Chancellor's Department has made of the effect of proposed changes to competition rules concerning the provision of legal services upon Community Legal Service contracts.

Rosie Winterton: My Department works with the Legal Services Commission to ensure that the Community Legal Service contracting regime complies with Government competition policy and regulations.

National Insurance

John Burnett: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what assessment the Lord Chancellor's Department has made of the effect of the increase in national insurance contributions from April 2003 upon bidding for Community Legal Services contracts.

Rosie Winterton: The resources presently available to my Department and the Legal Services Commission do not allow for any compensatory increases in relation to the new national insurance (NI) contributions. The additional NI contribution will need to be absorbed by publicly funded suppliers within their existing contractual resources.

Part-time Workers

John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what assessment she has made of the impact of the Part-Time Workers Directive on staff in the Department.

Rosie Winterton: Following the implementation of the Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations (2000) the my Department introduced flexible working policies which enhanced part-time work options.
	Job-sharing and job-splitting opportunities, access to a job-share register; and a wide range of reduced-hours arrangements form part of a comprehensive package of flexible work options available to all staff. My Department actively supports part-time staff through a Work-Life Balance Champion; a website; and a Carers Handbook. Staff working flexibly can express their views directly to senior management by way of a network for carers and at corporate diversity events.
	19.4 per cent. of staff in my Department currently work part-time (86.7 per cent. of whom are women, the majority caring for dependants) compared with 16.0 per cent. in 2001. Figures are published annually. Work-life balance responses have shown the greatest year on year improvement in Staff Attitude Surveys in the last two years.

Property Portfolio

John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the estimated value is of the property portfolio held by the Lord Chancellor's Department.

Yvette Cooper: On 1 April 2003, my Department's property portfolio was valued at 1,491 million.

Sickness Absence

John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many staff in the Department were on long term sick leave in each of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: My Department monitors the number of days lost to sickness year on year but cannot identify how many were attributable to long term absence without incurring disproportionate cost. 20 working days is the review point for considering whether a medical referral is appropriate, following which each case is judged on its own merits.
	The number of days lost to sickness absence throughout the civil service is published annually by the Cabinet Office in Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service, the most recent of which (for the calendar year 2001) was announced by ministerial statement on 19 December 2002, and copies placed in the Libraries of the House. The 1999, 2000 and 2001 reports are available on the Cabinet Office website at www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/civilservice/publications/sickness/index.htm.
	The figures for 2002 will be announced in due course.
	My Department is committed to managing sick absence effectively and in meeting the 2003 target for reducing sickness absence (to an average of 7.5 days per person annually).

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum Treaties

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the treaties governing asylum to which the UK is a signatory.

Beverley Hughes: We continue to work with UNHCR and others to support the effective operation of the 1951 Refugee Convention, and to implement domestic measures which ensure that protection is granted to those who need it and abusive claims are dealt with robustly.
	The nature and extent of migration is very different now to that which pertained 50 years ago and there is broad agreement that the Refugee Convention and ECHR need to be modernised to reflect the current circumstances. We are working with UNHCR and others to achieve this.

Counter-terrorism Review

David Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he has taken to implement the recommendation of Lord Carlile of Berriew's review on counter-terrorism.

Hilary Benn: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary will tomorrow place in the Library copies of his response to Lord Carlile, outlining progress on the recommendations made in his Report on the Terrorism Act 2000 and sections 2123 in Part 4 of the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001.
	My right hon. Friend is grateful to Lord Carlile for the work that he has undertaken which has found that the Act is being applied properly, and fairly.

Drug-related Crime

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the link between acquisitive crime and drug addiction.

Bob Ainsworth: Research confirms a strong link between problematic drug misuse and acquisitive crime. Approximately 65 per cent. of arrestees in The New English and Welsh Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (NEW-ADAM) research programme tested positive for one or more illegal drug. Early findings from compulsory testing on charge show similar links. For example in the Nottingham area, 50 per cent. charged proved positive for heroin or cocaine.

Asylum Seekers

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to visit the Appeals Processing Centre in the Home Office to discuss the backlog of cases.

Beverley Hughes: I have no immediate plans to visit the Appeals Processing Centre (APC). I visited APC in 2002 when I discussed issues relating to the processing of the backlog.

Asylum Seekers

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of asylum claims receive a decision within two months.

Beverley Hughes: The Government's targets for reducing the time taken for decisions on asylum claims have so far been met and most applicants can expect to receive an initial decision in two months.
	The latest quarter for which there are confirmed statistics is April to September 2002 when 76 per cent. of new substantive applications received initial decisions within two months.

Asylum Seekers

Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers have been given permission to remain in the UK in each of the past three years.

Beverley Hughes: In 2002, 41,940 principal applicants were granted asylum or exceptional leave to remain at the initial decision stage, or had their appeal allowed by the Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA), compared with 39,180 in 2001, and 35,535 in 2000, and include cases decided as part of the backlog clearance exercise. Cases granted exceptional leave to remain are reviewed at the end of the period of exceptional leave and may then be subject to removal.

Asylum Seekers

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers have been refused support by NASS on the basis of not having made their claim as soon as is reasonably practicable after arriving in the UK on each day since 8 January.

Beverley Hughes: It is planned to publish statistics on the operation of section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, which came into force on 8 January 2003, by the end of May 2003, subject to quality assurance of the data.

Asylum Seekers

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the circumstances under which an asylum-seeking family would be detained if removal was not imminent.

Beverley Hughes: As we made clear in our White Paper Secure Borders, Safe Haven, families may be detained in line with our stated policy on the use of Immigration Act powers of detention. As such, detention may be appropriate in the following circumstances: initially, whilst identity and basis of claim are being established; where there is a risk of non-compliance with the conditions of temporary admission or release; or to effect removal. In addition, families may also be detained as part of the fast-track asylum process at Oakington Reception Centre.

Asylum Seekers

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria are used by his Department to assess whether an asylum-seeking family poses a high risk of absconding.

Beverley Hughes: Immigration officers take a range of factors into account when assessing whether or not an individual or family is likely to comply with the terms of temporary admission or release. These factors include: evidence of previous absconding; evidence of participation in a determined attempt to breach immigration laws; previous history of compliance with the requirements of immigration control; ties with the United Kingdom; and any incentives to remain in contact. Each case is considered on its individual merits.

Asylum Seekers

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what medical screening is given to those seeking political asylum.

Beverley Hughes: Asylum seekers attending the Induction Centre at Dover are offered health screening. We will extend this as we develop a network of induction centres. The screening is undertaken by nurse practitioners and can include a check for TB. In addition, passengers, including asylum seekers, arriving at UK airports may be referred to the Port Medical Inspector.
	Asylum seekers housed in the proposed, trial accommodation centres will have access to on-site health care. On arrival at a centre, they will register with the on-site doctor; the extent of previous screening will be confirmed and arrangements made for any follow-up treatment.

Special Constabulary

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it is his policy to restore the strength of the Special Constabulary to the number of officers who were in post at May 1997.

Hilary Benn: The Government are committed to increasing the size and effectiveness of the Special Constabulary so that forces and communities are working in partnership together to reduce crime. We have not set specific strength targets, but the good practice guidance being produced is designed to improve all aspects of the recruitment, management and deployment of specials.

Police

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on police numbers in Somerset.

Bob Ainsworth: Police numbers in Avon and Somerset are at record strength. On 30 September 2002 the force had 3,119 police officers, 78 more than in September 2001. In March 2002 the force had 1,611 civilian support staff, 159 more than in March 2001.
	I also understand from the Chief Constable that the force has recruited 12 Community Support Officers.

Police

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what priority the Home Office attaches to rural policing.

Hilary Benn: We are very aware of the differing needs of police forces that cover predominantly rural areas. Following the consultation on the Police Funding Formula last summer my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary decided to retain the 30 million Rural Policing Fund in its present form. Police forces that cover most sparsely populated areas continue to benefit from additional funding through this fund.

Police

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what actions are open to him upon receipt of reports of HM Inspector of Police.

Bob Ainsworth: Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary prepares reports on inspections of forces, Basic Command Units, Best Value Reviews and other aspects of police performance and efficiency. Those may be used by the force, the Police Authority and the Home Office to improve performance.

Police

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent by the Metropolitan Police on rental vehicles in the last 12 months.

Bob Ainsworth: The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis informs me that final figures are not yet available, but estimated expenditure on the hiring of vehicles for the whole of the Metropolitan Police Service for the period 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003 is approximately 7 million.

Police

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the oral Answer of 2 December 2002, Official Report, column 500, on police, what discussions he has had with the Thames Valley police force in relation to housing.

Bob Ainsworth: holding answer 10 April 2003
	We have been working closely with Chief Constables and Police Authorities from a consortium of London and south east forces, including Thames Valley, to address retention problems.
	On 13 March we announced a package of measures including the allocation of 3.7 million of capital grant to Thames Valley police to provide housing assistance for officers.
	This package was welcomed by the consortium of forces and we shall continue to work with them to monitor the effectiveness of these measures and to consider any further steps that may be necessary.

Police

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many facilities have on-going arrangements for levy payments for police coverage, with particular reference to airports.

Bob Ainsworth: This information is not in general collected. I understand that those airports which are designated under s25 of the Aviation Security Act 1982 have agreed Service Level Agreements with their local police force in respect of policing provision and their obligation under s26(3) of the Act to meet the cost. The current arrangements for designation are under review following recommendations made in Sir John Wheeler's Report on Airport Security.
	Where special police services are needed at other airports, sporting events and other events (such as pop concerts) the Police Authority and the Chief Officer of Police would negotiate an agreement and charge for the special police service in accordance with the charging provisions of s25 of the Police Act 1996.

Police

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to provide private sector funding for police forces.

Bob Ainsworth: Police authorities can submit proposals for capital projects for support through the Government's Private Finance Initiative, which encourages a partnership approach with the private sector to the delivery of public services.
	Section 18 of the Police Act 1996 allows police authorities to enter into agreements to supply certain goods and services.
	Section 25 of the Act charge allows authorities to charge for 'special police services'.
	Section 93 of the Act also provides that a police authority may, in connection with the discharge of any of its functions, accept gifts of money, and gifts or loans of other property, including commercial sponsorship.

Police

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers additional to the complement on 1 May 1997 were appointed to the Durham constabulary in each year since 1997.

Bob Ainsworth: The information is set out in the table. Police strength details are not collected in May.
	
		
			 Year(42) Police strength Increase in strength Civilian support staff strength Increase in civilian strength 
		
		
			 1997 1,461  583  
			 1998 1,515 +54 557 -26 
			 1999 1,568 +53 559 +2 
			 2000 1,558 -10 590 +31 
			 2001 1,595 +37 566 -24 
			 2002 1,614 +19 660 +94 
			 2002(43) 1,655 +41 (44)  
		
	
	(42) At 31 March
	(43) 30 September
	(44) Not available
	Durham Constabulary has a record number of police officers. The net increase in force strength since March 1997 is 194 officers, or 13.3 per cent. which is nearly four times the average increase for England and Wales (3.4 per cent.) over the same period.

Police

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police stations manned (a) 24 hours a day and (b) part-time have (i) opened and (ii) closed in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: Information in this format is not held centrally.

Police

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police stations have (a) opened and (b) closed in (i) West Sussex and (ii) the United Kingdom in each of the past five years.

Bob Ainsworth: The Chief Constable of Sussex informs me that there are 15 police stations in West Sussex. This figure has remained the same for the past five years. No police stations have opened/closed during this time. A new police station will open in Selsey around April 2003.
	Information on the number of police stations opened and closed in the United Kingdom is not available centrally.
	The Secretary of State is not responsible for policing in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Unlawful Residents

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his most recent estimate is of the number of persons unlawfully resident in the United Kingdom.

Beverley Hughes: There is currently no official estimate of the size of the illegal population in the United Kingdom. The Home Office has commissioned research into the methods used in other countries to estimate the size of their illegal populations, in order to define methods appropriate for the United Kingdom. On the basis of this information we will actively consider the next steps.

Off-road Vehicles

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what review he has undertaken of the powers to enforce fixed penalty notices since 1 August 1999 for contravention of section 72 of the Highways Act 1972 by off-road motorcycles; and what lessons have been learnt from the four years of the scheme.

Hilary Benn: Driving on the pavement contrary to Section 72 of the highways Act 1835 as amended became a fixed penalty offence on 1 August 1999. The offence applies to all driving on the pavement including by off-road motorcycles and no special review of the use of the measure has been undertaken.
	Driving on the pavement is recognised as a problem in some areas and one that presents a hazard to pedestrians. The fixed penalty provides an additional means of dealing with it. With effect from January 2003 the police may also use powers under the Police Reform Act to seize off-road motorcycles driven illegally on the footway in a manner that causes alarm, distress or annoyance.

Off-road Vehicles

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many successful prosecutions have been brought against owners of off-road motorcycles under the amendment to section 34 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000;
	(2)  how many owners of off-road motorcycles have been prosecuted successfully for failing to comply with the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 when riding such motorcycles on the highway;
	(3)  how many successful prosecutions there have been against owners of off-road motorcycles using their vehicles on the highway in contravention of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986;
	(4)  how many successful prosecutions have been brought against the owners of off-road motorcycles using their vehicles on the highway in contravention of Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989;
	(5)  how many successful prosecutions were brought against the owners of off-road motorcycles using their vehicles (a) on pavements or other pedestrian routes and (b) cycle paths under section 72 of the Highway Act 1835, in the 10 years prior to the implementation of fixed penalty notices on 1 August 1999;
	(6)  how many successful prosecutions have been brought against the owners of off-road motorcycles using their vehicles in contravention of the Road Traffic Act 1991.

Hilary Benn: Information is not collected on the Home Office Court Proceedings database on the type of vehicle (i.e. motorcycle or car) involved in an offence unless specific to the legislation.
	In addition information collected centrally does not identify these offences separately from other summary motoring offences.

Child Rescue Alert Scheme

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to implement the child rescue alert scheme piloted by Sussex Police nationwide.

Hilary Benn: The Government are very grateful to the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) who sponsored Sussex Police to pilot this scheme. Fortunately, there has not been a case of child abduction in Sussex to test the system, but a number of different forces across the country are now interested in implementing child rescue schemes of their own.
	The ACPO Homicide Working Group has now agreed that it should be a locally delivered service with national standards and guidelines, and it will be implemented as soon as possible.

Animal Experiments

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many animals were used for experiments in 2002; and what plans he has to reduce that number.

Bob Ainsworth: The latest relevant figures are published in Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals in Great Britain 2001, Cm 5581. A copy has been placed in the Library. These show that in 2001 the number of animals used for the first time in scientific procedures was 2.57 million. This is a reduction on the previous year, and the number of procedures concerned is the lowest since the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 came into force.
	Corresponding data for 2002 are currently being collated and analysed, with publication planned for later this year.
	Under the 1986 Act the Home Office licenses the use of animals for scientific purposes where there is no non-animal alternative, and then only when both the number of animals and their suffering is minimised. This reflects the principles of the 3Rsreplacement, reduction and refinement.
	As the regulator of the use of live animals in scientific procedures the Home Office is demand-ledit has no control over the number of project licence applications which it receives. While we must seek to minimise the number of animals used in particular programmes of work, the Home Office cannot therefore influence the overall amount of animal research and testing which takes placethat is determined by many other factors, including the economic climate and global trends in scientific endeavour. There are current developmentssuch as advances in the use that can be made of genetically modified animalswhich may lead in coming years to more rather than fewer animals being used overall.
	The Government fully support and encourage development and promotion of the 3Rs in a number of ways, and additional impetus has been given to its efforts to that end by the related recommendations recently put forward by the House of Lords Select Committee on Animals in Scientific Procedures. This is not, however, an area where quick gains can be expected. In the longer term we must rely for any further significant reduction in animal use largely on the scientific community's own continuing efforts to develop, validate and accept non-animal alternative methods.

Animal Experiments

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his Written Statement of 20 January, Official Report, columns 12WS, on Animals (Scientific Procedures), when he expects to conclude his Department's consultations with the scientific community with a view to reaching a final decision on possible amendments to the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

Bob Ainsworth: The Government's response to the report of the House of Lords Select Committee on animals in scientific procedures, published on 20 January 2003 (Cm 5729), announced plans to publish details of programmes of work authorised under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, subject to safeguards for personal and confidential information and also acknowledged the significant concern within the scientific community about the possible repeal of section 24 of the 1986 Act, the confidentiality clause. We, therefore, also announced our intention to consult further with scientific stakeholders and animal protection groups about section 24 before reaching final decisions on its future.
	As part of this consultation, a joint working group with scientific stakeholders has been set up to look at these issues and met for the first time on 5 March 2003. Separate discussions will be held with animal protection groups. I expect to receive the findings of these discussions in the autumn and to consider the options for the future of section 24 later in the year.

Antisocial Behaviour/Curfew Orders

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) antisocial behaviour orders and (b) curfew orders have been made in the Buckingham constituency since the commencement of the scheme.

Hilary Benn: : (a) Table A shows the number of notifications received by the Home Office of Anti- Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) issued within Buckinghamshire (in which the Buckingham constituency is situated) and by local government authority up to 30 November 2002 (latest available).
	We are aware that the numbers of ASBOs made nationally have been under reported in returns made by magistrates' courts and are considering how reporting can be improved.
	(b) Table B shows the number of Curfew Orders with electronic monitoring made in the Buckingham constituency from 1999 to 2002.
	
		Table A: Number of anti-social behaviour orders reported to the Home Office which have been issued as from 1 April 1999 to 30 November 2002 for Buckinghamshire by local government authority area
		
			 Police force area/MCC From 1 April 1999 to 31 May 2000(45) From 1 June 2000 to30 November 2002 Total 
		
		
			  
			  
			 Thames Valley(46) 1 10 11 
			 Local Government AuthorityCounty of Buckinghamshire
			 Aylesbury Vale DC  1 1 
			 Milton Keynes BC  3 3 
			 Wycombe DC  2 2 
		
	
	(45) Total figure only available for Thames Valley police force area within this period. Local Government Authority not known.
	(46) Includes total figure for countries of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire
	 Not available
	
		Table B: Number of Curfew Orders imposed in the Buckingham constituency 19992000
		
			 Year Adult Juvenile 
		
		
			  
			  
			 1999 117 0 
			 2000 130 9 
			 2001 200 -7 
			 2002(47) 78 10 
			 Total 792 37 
		
	
	(47) Up to March 2003.

Antisocial Behaviour/Curfew Orders

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will list the consultation processes which contributed to the anti-social behaviour White Paper;
	(2)  how many representations he has received on the anti-social behaviour White Paper since its publication; from whom representations were received; and if he will place copies in the Library.

Bob Ainsworth: holding answer 8 April 2003
	The White Paper Respect and Responsibility, published on 12 March, set out the Government's vision for tackling anti-social behaviour.
	The White Paper sets out a cross-departmental agenda and draws on a wide range of views expressed by local authorities, voluntary organisations, the police and a variety of practitioners and members of the public up and down the country.
	We have received responses to the White Paper both public and informal, and expect to continue to do so.
	We will continue to work closely with local authorities, the police and others to ensure that effective action is taken to deal with anti-social behaviour.

Crime and Disorder Act

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many council and housing association residents have been evicted from their homes as a result of powers under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

Tony McNulty: There are no powers to take possession action against social housing tenants in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Provisions for possession actions against social tenants are contained in the 1985, 1988 and 1996 Housing Acts. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently liaising with the Court Service to obtain a breakdown of the data collected on the number of possession actions and evictions.

Behavioural Neuroscience

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the facilities will be for the accommodation and environmental enrichment of non-human primates at Cambridge University's proposed Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will list the types of research that Cambridge University plans to conduct at the proposed Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how the need for the Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience at Cambridge University was decided; whether a cost-benefit analysis was used; and if he will make a statement.

Patricia Hewitt: I have been asked to reply.
	The Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Cambridge won an open competition for a share of the 750 million Joint Infrastructure Fund (JIF). 150 bids from across the UK and across a wide range of scientific disciplines were successful. Cost benefit analysis was not part of the review process; rather, all bids to the fund were reviewed by an international panel of experts on the basis of scientific excellence. The Cambridge neuroscience project was judged to be one of the best in the biosciences field. The announcement of the JIF award to the Cambridge project was made in a joint HEFCE-OST-Wellcome Trust press notice on 7 December 1999. For details of this announcement see: http://www.gnn.gov.uk/gnn/national.nsf
	The Centre has not yet been built and is still going through the planning programme. Ensuring that both the housing and the environment of the animals is of the highest quality is integral to the planning. The UK also has one of the most stringent regimes in the world for regulating animal research; animals can only be used in scientific procedures licensed by the Home Office under the Animal (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. The care and welfare of animals is closely regulated by this Act and Centres are routinely inspected to ensure that animals are treated humanely. This combination of planning and regulation will ensure that the Centre will operate under conditions providing the highest modern standards of animal welfare.
	Once complete, the Centre will improve the facilities for outstanding teams of researchers to carry out research into the causes and treatments of mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and neurological disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. Primates are an essential part of the work, as much of what we understand about the human brain derives from primate research. The exact nature of the research will depend on what type of research grants are obtained, but is likely to include non-invasive forms of brain imaging and behavioural testing of functions such as memory.

Crime Statistics

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the clear up rate for Suffolk Constabulary was for (a) burglary of dwellings, (b) violence against the person, (c) vehicle crime, (d) robbery and (e) sexual offences in each year since 1997.

Bob Ainsworth: The requested information is given in the table.
	There was a change in counting rules for detections on 1 April 1999. The new instructions provide more precise and rigorous criteria for recording a detection, with the underlying emphasis on the successful result of a police investigation. Numbers of detections before and after this date are therefore not directly comparable.
	As a result of Suffolk police adopting the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) in advance of its official introduction across England and Wales on 1 April 2002, the number of detections recorded in 200102 may have been inflated.
	
		Recorded crime: Detection rates for Suffolk -- Percentage
		
			  Violence against the person Sexual offences Robbery Burglary in a dwelling Vehicle crime 
		
		
			 1997(48) 91 83 55 33 (51)19 
			 199899(49) 87 74 43 35 (52)22 
			 19992000(50) 83 63 53 24 (53)13 
			 200001 79 54 45 20 (53)11 
			 200102 77 48 40 19 (53)12 
		
	
	(48) Crime statistics were recorded on a calendar year basis up to 1997, and on a financial year basis thereafter.
	(49) Percentage detected using the expanded coverage and revised counting rules which came into effect on 1 April 1998.
	(50) Revised detections guidance was implemented on 1 April 1999.
	(51) This figure is based on aggravated vehicle taking, theft from a vehicle and theft of a motor vehicle.
	(52) This figure is based on the offences included within 'note 4', plus vehicle interference/tampering and criminal damage to a vehicle.
	(53) This figure is bases on the offences within 'note 5', plus racially aggravated criminal damage to a vehicle.
	(54) Suffolk police adopted the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) on 1 April 2001, one year earlier than its official introduction across England and Wales. This may have affected the detection rates given for 200102.

Crime Statistics

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the recorded crime rate in Suffolk was in each year since 1997, broken down by major category of crime.

Bob Ainsworth: The requested information is given in the table.
	There was a change in counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998, which would have the tendency to increase the number of offences counted. This will have had an effect on the number of offences recorded per 100,000 population. Numbers of offences before and after this date are therefore not directly comparable.
	As a result of Suffolk police adopting the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) in advance of its official introduction across England and Wales on 1 April 2002, numbers of offences recorded for 200102 may have been inflated.
	
		Recorded crime: Number of offences per 100,000 population for Suffolk
		
			  Total Violence against the person Sexual offences Robbery Total violent crime Burglary 
		
		
			 1997(55) 5,387 370 60 21 452 921 
			 199899(56) 5,987 573 61 21 655 936 
			 19992000(57) 6,460 790 58 33 881 926 
			 200001 6,569 948 62 26 1,037 851 
			 200102 7,426 1,082 71 43 1,196 933 
		
	
	
		
			  Theft and handling stolen goods Fraud and forgery Criminal damage Drug offences Other offences 
		
		
			 1997(55) 2,562 169 1,184 (58) 99 
			 199899(56) 2,565 315 1,185 237 94 
			 19992000(57) 2,596 325 1,423 210 99 
			 200001 2,549 352 1,505 175 102 
			 200102 2,856 357 1,779 190 115 
		
	
	(55) Crime statistics were recorded on a calendar year basis up to 1997, and on a financial year basis thereafter.
	(56) The number of crimes recorded in that financial year using the coverage and rules in use until 31 March 1998.
	(57) The number of crimes recorded in that financial year using the expanded offence coverage and revised counting rules which came into effect on 1 April 1998.
	(58) Prior to 1 April 1998, drug offences were recorded within the 'Other offences' offence group.
	Note:
	Suffolk police adopted the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) on 1 April 2001, one year earlier than its official introduction across England and Wales. As a result of this, the 200102 figures given in the table may be inflated.

Crime Statistics

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offenders were dealt with for supply offences in respect of Class A drugs in the Buckingham constituency in (a) 2000, (b) 2001 and (c) 2002.

Bob Ainsworth: The information requested is not available at constituency level.
	However, data from the Home Office Court Appearances and Cautions Drugs Database shows that the number of persons in the Thames Valley police force area who were dealt with for supply offences involving Class A drugs in 2000 was 224. These are the latest figures available at the present time.

Crime Statistics

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of recorded crime in the Buckingham constituency was drug-related in (a) 2000, (b) 2001 and (c) 2002.

Bob Ainsworth: Recorded crime figures include statistics on drugs offences, such as possession, and on acquisitive crimes, such as burglary, but do not record whether the latter are related to an offender's drug habits.
	However, the New English and Welsh Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (NEW-ADAM) research programme, which involves interviewing and drug testing those arrested by the police, confirms a link between drug misuse and crime, although the conclusions do not relate specifically to Buckingham. Analysis of the data from the first eight sites in the survey, collected during 19992000, shows that 65 per cent. of arrestees provided a urine sample that tested positive for one or more illegal drugs. The analysis also shows that up to 29 per cent. of arrestees tested positive for opiates (including heroin) and/or cocaine (including crack).
	As a guide to the proportion of crime that is drug-related, analysis of the NEW-ADAM self-report data indicates that while only 21 per cent. of non-drug using arrestees reported having previously offended in the past 12 months, this figure rises to 75 per cent. for those arrestees who use heroin and/or cocaine/crack. Moreover, while users of both heroin and cocaine/crack represented just under one quarter of all arrestees interviewed, they were responsible for more than three fifths of all the illegal income reported.
	In support of this, 55 per cent. of arrestees who reported using one or more drugs in the last 12 months and committing one or more acquisitive crimes, acknowledged a link between their drug use and their offending behaviour. This proportion rose to 78 per cent. for arrestees who said they had used heroin and cocaine/crack.

Departmental Annual Report

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the annual report of the Department will be published.

Beverley Hughes: The spring 2003 Departmental Reports are to be published between 28 April and 16 May 2003. We will publish our Departmental Report within this period.

Distraction Burglary

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his Answer of 21 March, Official Report, column 969W, how many suspected incidences of distraction burglary have taken place in each of the last three years.

Bob Ainsworth: The figures for distraction burglaries received from police forces do not distinguish between suspected and other cases. Nor is it possible to provide a breakdown by whether the burglary was successful or an attempt.
	In the British Crime Survey, burglaries where entry was gained by false pretences are split between with entry and attempts. The most recent results can be found in table 3a in Crime in England and Wales 200102. Supplementary Volume, which was published in January 2003. This reports that there were 426,000 attempted burglaries and 565,000 burglaries with entry, of which 10 per cent. and four per cent. respectively involved the offender using false pretences to gain, or try to gain entry.

Drug Treatment

Judy Mallaber: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drug treatment and testing orders have been made in (a) Derbyshire and (b) Amber Valley since they were introduced.

Bob Ainsworth: Between 1 October 2000 when the order was first rolled out to all courts in England and Wales and 28 February 2003 (which is the latest month for which figures are available) 303 Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs) were made in Derbyshire. Separate DTTO figures for Amber Valley are not held centrally.

Drug-related Crimes

Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has to ensure effective treatment for offenders whose crimes are drug-related.

Bob Ainsworth: Research shows that appropriate treatment can reduce both drug use and offending. To get more offenders into treatment, the Government is developing a range of interventions at every appropriate stage in the criminal justice system, which provides opportunities to identify and engage with drug misusing offenders and helps them gain access to appropriate treatment.
	This programme will build on and expand existing interventions such as the Drug Treatment Testing Order (DTTO), a community sentence which has been available to courts in England and Wales since October 2000 following successful piloting in three areas, and arrest referral schemes. It will also introduce drug testing, initially into the 30 Basic Command Units (BCUs) with the highest levels of acquisitive crime, and develop throughcare and aftercare arrangements aimed at case managing offenders.
	At the same time, we are expanding our treatment provision to make it more accessible to all that need it, when they need it, which is essential to the success of the Government's National Drug Strategy as a whole. The Pooled Treatment Budget funding will increase from 191 million in 200203 to 236 million in 200304 rising to 299 million in 200506.
	The main treatment target is to increase the participation of problem drug users in drug treatment programmes by 55 per cent. by 2004 and by 100 per cent. by 2008, and to increase the proportion of users successfully sustaining or completing treatment programmes year on year.

Energy Policy

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement, in relation to his Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which his Department is responsible, on (a) the amount of energy consumed, (b) spending on (i) energy and (ii) energy efficiency measures, (c) the amount saved through energy efficiency measures and (d) energy policy in each of the last five years.

Beverley Hughes: The information held centrally on energy consumption and expenditure by the Home Office is given in the table:
	
		Main Home Office
		
			 Year Energy consumption (GWh/y) Energy expenditure (/y) Energy/m2 (kWh/m2/y) Savings over 19978 (percentage) 
		
		
			 199798 73.27 1,792,543 392.86  
			 199899 73.58 1,911,139 380.83 3 
			 19992000 88.36 2,378,335 379.78 3 
			 200001 104.37 2,853,523 364.91 7 
			 200102 129.62 3,499,541 390.38 1 
		
	
	
		Her Majesty's Prison Service
		
			 Year Energy consumption (GWh/y) 1 Energy expenditure (/y) 2 Energy/m2 (kWh/m2/y) 3 Savings over 19978 (percentage) 4  
		
		
			 199798 1583.45 23,868,557 540.89  
			 199899 1197.81 20,016,907 452.93 24 
			 19992000 1454.30 22,310,050 473.10 8 
			 200001 1393.19 23,778,727 447.80 12 
			 200102 1400.64 27,234,995 436.61 12 
		
	
	1 . Energy Consumption: this is weather-corrected in the usual manner, using annual degree days relative to the 20 year average for 199001. The figures are those reported on for the Central Government Estate campaign, and include the Home Office's main estate plus its agencies (except Prison Service, which is reported separately), but not Non-Departmental PublicBodies (NDPBs).
	2 . Energy Expenditure: this is actual spend, and from April 2001, includes the Climate Change Levy.
	3 . Energy/m2: this variable allows for changes in both weather and estate size on energy consumption. So annual changes will generally reflect efficiency changes.
	4 . Savings over 19978: These have been expressed as percentage savings relative to the first year quoted here, and are based on the figures in the preceding column.
	Information about energy consumption and expenditure by Home Office sponsored NDPBs is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Similarly year on year details of the amount spent on energy efficiency measures by my Department are not held centrally, however in the year 20012002 the Prison Service funded energy and water conservation schemes totalling 440,000.
	The Energy White Paper, 'Our Energy Future-Creating a Low Carbon Economy' made clear the importance the Government attaches to improving energy efficiency in its own estate. This is reflected in several targets. There is currently an interim target of a one per cent. pa ongoing reduction in weather-corrected carbon emissions, pending the development of new indicators and targets based on benchmarking the performance of each department's largest buildings. These new targets are planned to be in place later this year. New targets for Government Departments' use of CHP generated electricity will also be established during 2003.
	In addition, the review of Government procurement has identified areas where procurement could reinforce the achievement of these targets, and arrangements are being made centrally for Departments to purchase goods with high energy efficiency standards and which provide good value for money.
	On the purchase of renewable electricity, Ministers agreed the following target in May 2001: All departments will ensure that by 31 March 2003, at least five per cent of their electricity comes from renewable sources that are exempt from the Climate Change Levy or from self generation, provided this does not entail excessive cost. This will rise to at least 10 per cent. supply from such sources by 31 March 2008, but will be reviewed after 31 March 2003 to take account of market conditions following the introduction of the renewables obligation. The review of 2003 will include consideration of increasing or bringing forward the target.

Europol

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how the proposed changes to Europol's powers will affect its working relationship with domestic United Kingdom police and security forces; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on the working relationship between domestic United Kingdom police and security forces and Europol.

Bob Ainsworth: Europol supports the operations of the EU Member States' law-enforcement authorities in combating serious and organised cross-border crime, by collating and analysing intelligence provided by national authorities. At present national authorities can only liaise with Europol through the national unit designated in each Member State. The UK's national unit is based at the National Criminal Intelligence Service, through which an excellent working relationship has been developed between Europol and our police and security forces. This is demonstrated by the fact that the UK continues to have the highest total number of investigations supported by or through Europol among all the Member States.
	The current proposed amendments to the Europol Convention would allow Member States to permit their law-enforcement authorities to liaise directly with Europol, provided that national units are kept involved and simultaneously informed of any exchanges of information. This arrangement may provide a degree of extra flexibility and efficiency in certain cases, but will not significantly change the working relationship between Europol and the UK police and security forces.

Firearms

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many crimes involving firearms have occurred in each of the last five years in the (a) the Bury St. Edmunds constituency, (b) Suffolk, (c) Norfolk, (d) Essex and (e) Cambridgeshire per head of population;
	(2)  how many firearms have been handed in to police in each of the past five years in (a) the Bury St. Edmunds constituency, (b) Suffolk, (c) Norfolk, (d) Essex and (e) Cambridgeshire in each year since 1997;
	(3)  how many deaths by firearms have occurred in each year since 1997 in (a) the Bury St. Edmunds constituency, (b) Suffolk, (c) Norfolk, (d) Essex and (e) Cambridgeshire.

Bob Ainsworth: Available published data on the total number of recorded crimes in which firearms (including air weapons) were reported to have been used are given in the following table.
	
		
			  Suffolk Norfolk Essex Cambridgeshire 
		
		
			 1997 17 75 269 134 
			 199899 34 59 317 141 
			 19992000 69 56 344 186 
			 200001 136 57 356 146 
		
	
	Numbers of firearms offences were published on a calendar year basis up to 1997, and on a financial year basis thereafter.
	There was a change of counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998, which will have the effect of increasing the number of crimes counted. Numbers of recorded crimes before and after this date are therefore not directly comparable.
	Available published data on the number of recorded homicide offences in which firearms were reported to have been used are given in the following table.
	
		Number of homicide offences involving firearms
		
			  Suffolk Norfolk Essex Cambridgeshire 
		
		
			  
			  
			 1997 0 0 1 0 
			 199899 0 0 1 0 
			 19992000 0 1 1 1 
			 200001 1 1 1 1 
		
	
	Details of firearms offences have not been collected by parliamentary constituency.
	Information on the number of firearms that have been handed in to police are not routinely collected centrally.

Fixed Penalties

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fixed penalty notices have been issued under section 72 of the Highways Act 1835, in each year since 1 August 1999, broken down by (a) police and (b) local authority area.

Hilary Benn: The regular collection of data on fixed penalties for motoring offences does not identify separately offences peculiar to driving a motor vehicle on a footpath (section 72 of the Highways Act 1835), from other motoring offences of neglect of pedestrian rights. Fixed penalty data are not collected centrally on the number of pedal cyclists driving on a footpath (also under section 72 of the Highways Act 1835). Information by local authority is not collected centrally.
	The table shows information collected as part of a special exercise conducted in 2001 on the number of fixed penalties issued by police force area, under section 72 of the Highways Act 1835, in 1999 and 2000 only.
	
		Fixed penalty offencesnumber of substantive tickets issued, England and Wales, August to December 1999 and January to December 2000 for cycling and driving on the footpath (pavement) offences under section 72 of the Highways Act 1835 by police force area
		
			  Cycling on thefootpath (pavement) Driving on thefootpath (pavement) 
			 Police force area 1999 2000 1999 2000 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 19 34 16 42 
			 Bedfordshire 
			 Cambridgeshire (59) (59) (59) (59) 
			 Cheshire 6 14 2 6 
			 Cleveland 5 5   
			 Cumbria 12 20 4 24 
			 Derbyshire 3 8 3 11 
			 Devon and Cornwall 28 34 4 43 
			 Dorset 7 17 7 1 
			 Durham 7 11 1 1 
			 Essex 76 55 5 7 
			 Gloucestershire 25 47 6 4 
			 Greater Manchester 38 78 (60) (60) 
			 Hampshire 52 52  4 
			 Hertfordshire 11 6 3 13 
			 Humberside 19 64 1 14 
			 Kent 48 44 39 92 
			 Lancashire 8 20 41 11 
			 Leicestershire 13 5 2 1 
			 Lincolnshire 15 4 3 2 
			 London, City of 10 3 10  
			 Merseyside 18 20 5 7 
			 Metropolitan Police 29 66 8 22 
			 Norfolk (61)8 14 (61)1 3 
			 Northamptonshire 2 7   
			 Northumbria 21 27 9 58 
			 North Yorkshire 18 16 53 191 
			 Nottinghamshire 5 1 2 3 
			 South Yorkshire 11 34 61 111 
			 Staffordshire (61)3 4 (61) 5 
			 Suffolk 53 30   
			 Surrey 13 1 4 16 
			 Sussex 15 9   
			 Thames Valley 8 6 2 3 
			 Warwickshire 2 3 2 2 
			 West Mercia 36 17 5 6 
			 West Midlands 4 9 1 17 
			 West Yorkshire (62) 2 (62)2  
			 Wiltshire 6 23 1 7 
			  
			 Dyfed-Powys 7 3 1  
			 Gwent  1 1  
			 North Wales (59) (63)1 34 (63)1 
			 South Wales 4 6 38 60 
			  
			 Total (42 forces) 665 821 377 788 
		
	
	(59) Not available.
	(60) Included within cycling on the footway (pavement).
	(61) October to December 1999 only.
	(62) November and December 1999 only.
	(63) October to December 2000 only.

Government Intelligence Agency Network

Joyce Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the (a) establishment and (b) functioning of the Government Intelligence Agency Network.

Bob Ainsworth: It is understood that this question refers to the work being done to reduce crime.
	The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 established partnerships between the police, local authorities, probation service, health authorities, the voluntary sector, and local residents and businesses. These Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships now include other groups including police authorities.
	These partnerships are working to reduce crime and disorder in their area by:
	consulting widely with communities to make sure that the partnership's perception matches that of local people, especially minority groups, such as members of ethnic minorities, young people or gay men and lesbians.
	devising a strategy containing measures to tackle those priority problems. This is to include targets, and target owners for each of the priority areas.
	The strategy lasts for three years, but must be kept under review by the partnership.
	Stemming from the strategy are various projects and schemes, some of which will be very local and some of which will be borough, area or even region-wide. Funding is provided to support this work. Over 3.2 million has been allocated to Northumbria for 200304 with 269,920 going to Gateshead Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership and 226,489 to the Police Basic Command Units covering Washington and Gateshead East.
	Police numbers have also increased. In September 2002 Northumbria had 329 more officers than in March 1997, an overall total of 4,006. This was a record number.
	In addition to local initiatives there are also a number of national initiatives, which help to tackle local crime problems such as those on street crime, drugs including drug treatment and vehicle crime.

Greater Manchester Police Force

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps were taken to review the safety of convictions dependent upon the evidence of corrupt officers (a) following the 1977 report by Superintendent Topping into the Greater Manchester Police force and (b) following the Court of Appeal decision to quash the conviction of Mr. Robert Brown.

Bob Ainsworth: I am advised by Greater Manchester Police that the report of Superintendent Topping's investigation found no allegation or evidence to suggest that any of the officers who where subject to the investigation had falsified evidence to secure a conviction against any individual. Therefore no review of cases or prosecutions involving these officers was conducted. The Court of Appeal decision with regard to the conviction of Mr. Robert Brown does not change this position.

Greater Manchester Police Force

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to make the 1977 report of Superintendent Topping into the Greater Manchester police force more widely available to interested parties; and if he will place a copy in the Library.

Bob Ainsworth: I am advised by Greater Manchester Police that this report related to a two year investigation launched in 1979 into allegations of corruption involving detectives working from the Platt Lane police station. Any decisions regarding the report's disclosure are a matter for the Chief Constable but I understand that Greater Manchester Police have no plans to make it more widely available.

Money Laundering

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received about the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Failure to Disclose Money Laundering: Specified Training) Order.

Bob Ainsworth: The Home Office is working closely with representatives of the regulated sector on the effective implementation of the anti-money laundering regime introduced by the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The implications of the Act for the regulated sector have been discussed extensively, but no representations have been made specifically about the money laundering training requirements.

Parenting Orders

Judy Mallaber: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many parenting orders have been made in (a) Derbyshire and (b) Amber Valley since they were introduced.

Hilary Benn: 28 parenting orders were made in Derbyshire between their introduction in April 2000 and 31 December 2002. The figures collected by the Youth Offending Team are not broken down by individual local authority area.

Part-time Workers

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact of the Part-time Workers Directive on staff in his Department.

Beverley Hughes: The Home Office is committed to helping its staff balance their home and work life. A range of flexible and alternative working patterns, including part-time working, provides staff with the opportunities to adapt their hours to suit their commitments outside the workplace.
	The latest figures from the Equal pay Review 2003 show that 23 per cent. of staff in the non-Agency Home Office work part-time. Part time working in the Criminal Records Bureau and Forensic Science Service is seven per cent. and in the Prison Service averages at five per cent. The United Kingdom Passport and Records Agency has 27 per cent. of staff working part-time.
	The impact of the Part Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 has not been assessed but many initiatives are in place to ensure that part-time staff are not treated less favourably than full time staff. Part-time staff have the same opportunities for career development, promotion and training. The great majority of posts within the Department are now advertised as open to part-time staff and the Home Office job share database was launched in September 2002 to facilitate an increase in more job share arrangements.

RAF Fairford

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) stop and searches and (b) arrests have been made as a result of policing at RAF Fairford.

Bob Ainsworth: holding answer 11 April 2003
	I understand from Gloucestershire Police that during the period 21 February to 11 April, there have been 68 arrests, mainly for aggravated trespass and public order offences, and 995 stop and searches under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 and section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.

RAF Fairford

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the regulations under which RAF Fairford is being policed.

Bob Ainsworth: Policing operations at RAF Fairford are being undertaken in accordance with established police powers and procedures and a protocol setting out the roles and responsibilities of the Ministry of Defence and Gloucestershire police forces.

RAF Fairford

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under which powers demonstrators at RAF Fairford are being body searched; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: Stop and search operations have been undertaken in accordance with section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 and section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000. A constable exercising the power under these sections may not require a person to remove any clothing in public except for headgear, footwear, an outer coat or jacket or gloves.

Sickness Absence

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff in his Department were on long term sick leave in each of the last five years.

Beverley Hughes: Information about long term sickness absence is not held centrally. As part of the process for effective monitoring and managing sickness absence, the Department and its Agencies have introduced a range of clear trigger points with advice on action to take to ensure that timely and appropriate action is taken. We are also currently revising operational practice to see what further action might be appropriate.
	The Department and its Agencies have introduced guidelines, policies and procedures with a view to meeting its target to reducing sickness absence, published in its Service Delivery Agreements for April 2001 to March 2004.

Victims of Crime

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of people who reported a crime to the police in 2001 were (a) sent or otherwise given a copy of the Victim of Crime leaflet and (b) visited by a volunteer from Victim Support or telephoned by Victim Support.

Bob Ainsworth: In general the police do not record statistics about the number of victims of crime who are given a copy of the Victims of Crime leaflet. However, all personal victims of reported crime should be given or sent a copy of the leaflet and, in 2001, some 2 million copies of the leaflet were distributed to police forces for that purpose.
	It is not known how many personal victims of crime reported the crime to the police. But in 200102 the total number of recorded crimes (all categories e.g. including fraud and public order offences) was 5,527,082. 1,257,089 victims were referred to Victim Support by the police, other agencies or self-referred. Victim Support contacted 295,658 victims by telephone; 159,693 were contacted by a home visit and 45,978 by an office visit.

Violence against Women

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the efficiency of the crime reductions strategy in reducing violence against women.

Bob Ainsworth: The Government is committed to reducing all forms of violence against women, including domestic violence on which I will shortly publish a consultation paper.
	Evaluation of the Violence Against Women Initiative projects under the Government's Crime Reduction Programme is due to be finished in the summer. The first findings will be published by the Home Office from the autumn onwards.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Child Care

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to ensure that individuals employed to look after children register as childminders with the relevant social services.

Maria Eagle: Since September 2001, all childminders looking after children aged under eight have been required by law to register with the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted). Ofsted takes appropriate enforcement action if unregistered childminding is found.

Child Care

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to change the arrangement that allowed child carers to obtain a free Criminal Records Bureau check.

Maria Eagle: The current subsidy, which enables child care workers to obtain free Criminal Records Bureau checks, will continue until we have completed a review of all the charges that child care providers have to meet as part of the Ofsted registration arrangements. We plan to consult on any changes that are proposed as a result of this review.

Capita Contracts

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the (a) value and (b) nature is of each contract his Department has with Capita.

Stephen Twigg: My Department has a number of contracts with Capita for a range of different services. These are as follows:
	Teachers' Pensions
	This contract is for the administration of the Teachers' Pensions Scheme. The current contract worth 70 million over seven years expires at the end of September 2003. The Department has just awarded Capita a new contract from October 2003, also for seven years, with a value of 62 million.
	Connexions Card
	This contract is to develop and deliver the Connexions Card. It is a seven-year contract, with an option to extend for a further three years, with a value of 109.7 million.
	Consultancy Framework Contracts
	Framework contracts provide for general management consultancy and consultancy support for LEA interventions. Information on the use and value is not held centrally.
	Executive Recruitment and Search
	A framework contract to provide executive recruitment services. Information on the use and value is not held centrally.

Children's Centres

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he expects the first children's centres to be established.

Maria Eagle: We expect the first children's centres to be announced in June 2003. These early designations will be existing settings that already meet the core offer for children's centres now. Local authorities will submit their strategic plans for rolling out children's centres by 15 October and we expect further announcements to follow throughout the autumn.

Early Years Provision

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills where early excellence centres have been set up; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: holding answer 11 April 2003
	The information requested has been placed in the Library.

Early Years Provision

Patsy Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the benefits of Sure Start programmes; what reviews of outcomes have taken place; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: A major evaluation of Sure Start began in January 2001. It will examine the impact of Sure Start on children, families and communities, both in the short, medium and long-term by tracking a sample of 8,000 children and their families over time. The first information on impact and effectiveness will become available over the next 12 to 18 months.

Early Years Provision

Patsy Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how long Surestart programmes for children last.

Maria Eagle: Sure Start local programmes have guaranteed funding up to March 2006 and there is an in principle commitment to support them until 201314. This would mean each local programme is funded for a period of 10 years. Over this time we expect good practice developed in these programmes to be disseminated widely so that mainstream services become more responsive to the needs of young children and their families.

Early Years Provision

Patsy Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children have benefited from (a) a Homestart and (b) a Surestart programme in the last three years, broken down by local authority.

Maria Eagle: The information requested is contained in tables, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries.

Early Years Provision

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many places (a) in pre-school playgroups, (b) in private nurseries, (c) with childminders, (d) in holiday play schemes and (e) in after school clubs were provided in each LEA area at 31 March (i) 1999 and (ii) 2002.

Maria Eagle: The information requested is contained in tables, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries.

Early Years Provision

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 12 March 2003, Official Report, column 301W, on Sure Start, what the values of (a) [x] and (b) [y] in the technical note are; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: In the published technical note on Sure Start's Public Service Agreement, x and y have been used to denote that percentages have not yet been set but will be when baseline information becomes available. For example, as the technical note indicates, the target per cent. increase in the proportion of young children in Sure Start local programme and Children's Centre areas with normal levels of personal, social and emotional development will be set by the end of 200304 when the first data from the Foundation Stage Profile becomes available.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students in the North Shropshire constituency have received the Education Maintenance Allowance.

Margaret Hodge: Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is currently running as a pilot scheme in 56 local education authority (LEA) areas in England. Shropshire LEA is not one of the pilot areas. Therefore, no young people living in North Shropshire have benefited from the scheme.
	However, young people in North Shropshire will be able to apply for EMA from September 2004, when the national EMA scheme is launched. The first tranche of eligible students will be those who reach compulsory school leaving age in the 200304 academic year.

Educational Psychologists

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the system for the provision of funding for the training of educational psychologists; and if he will increase the number of funded placements to over 124 placements per year;
	(2)  if the Government will provide additional funds for the training of educational psychologists in addition to the top-slice funding in time for the September intake; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: Funding for postgraduate training of those wishing to become educational psychologists is currently provided via the Educational Psychology Clearing House and Grant Scheme, using funding drawn from within the top-sliced Rate Support Grant provision, allocated by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in accordance with recommendations of the Local Government Association. The Grant Scheme is administered by the Employers' Organisation on behalf of the Local Government Association.
	The Department is facilitating on-going discussions with a range of partners, including the LGA and Employers' Organisation, on developing a new shorter entry training route for educational psychologists. We have commissioned an implementation study which has been looking at issues such as the operation of existing arrangements, future funding arrangements and the number of places to be supported for the foreseeable future.

European Working Groups

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on progress with achieving transparency in respect of the European working groups for which the Department is responsible.

Margaret Hodge: The Government have long been committed to greater openness in the EU Institutions. This was a key theme of the UK Presidencies in 1992 and 1998. The Government welcomed Regulation 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. As a result, more documents are released to the public, while genuinely sensitive documents are given the protection they need.
	Much of the Council's work takes place in preparatory bodies, including working groups.
	Accountability and transparency of Council business to Parliament are ensured by the scrutiny process, to which the Government are also firmly committed.
	We strongly supported the measures agreed at the Seville European Council to make the Council more open when in legislating mode. We remain committed to increasing transparency.
	The Future of Europe Convention is also looking at ways to make the EU more open.
	My Department represents the UK Government at the Education, Youth and Culture Councils and the associated working groups, where proposals for EU legislation are discussed. It also currently represents UK Government at the Establishment and Services Working Group where the draft proposal for a directive on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications is being negotiated. All proposals before these working groups are subject to the scrutiny of UK Parliament, which is kept fully informed of developments.

Flexible Learning

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures he plans to introduce (a) to support part-time students and (b) to encourage flexible learning in higher education.

Margaret Hodge: On our plans for improving the financial support offered to part-time students, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Daventry on 14 April 2003, Official Report, column 56263W.
	The Government is firmly committed to encouraging more flexible ways of learning to attract people with different demands and responsibilities into higher education. E-learning has the potential to provide interactive, individualised learning at the pace, place and level most suited to the learner. We have provided 62 million to set up the UK e-Universities project to make higher education more widely available over the Internet for both individuals and businesses.
	Since September 2001, foundation degrees have been available offering flexible study methods such as distance learning and e-learning to suit the individual needs of both employed and unemployed students. Both full and part-time courses are offered at universities or colleges of further and higher education.
	The Higher Education Funding Council for England is about to start a two year programme of work with other partners in the HE sector to identify and build upon good practice in the use of credit systems. This work will include a number of pilot schemes to encourage the use of credit to support flexible progression and transfer between institutions and qualifications.

Further Education

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of 16 to 18-year-olds in (a) Suffolk and (b) Bury St. Edmunds in education have gone on to further education in each of the last five years.

Ivan Lewis: The percentage of 16 and 17-year-olds participating in full-time education for Suffolk LEA in each of the last five years for which data are available is set out in the table. Data on the percentage of students participating in post-compulsory education are not calculated for areas smaller than LEAs as reliable estimates cannot be made. Participation rates at sub-national level are available only for 16 and 17-year-olds. Bury St. Edmunds is part of Suffolk LEA.
	
		Participation in full-time education in Suffolk LEA -- Percentage of age group
		
			  End 1996 End 1997 End 1998 End 1999 End 2000 
		
		
			 16-year-olds 71 69 71 70 72 
			 17-year-olds 59 59 58 59 57 
		
	
	Participation rates by LEA for 16 and 17-year-olds are published in an annual statistical bulletin, Participation in Education and Training by 16 and 17-year-olds in Each Local Area in England. This bulletin is available on the departmental website: www.dfes.gov.uk/statistics

Further Education

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of 16 to 18 year olds in (a) Staffordshire and (b) Stoke on Trent in education have gone on to further education in each of the last three years.

Margaret Hodge: The percentage of 16 and 17 year olds participating in education and training for Staffordshire LEA and Stoke-on-Trent LEA in 1998, 1999 and 2000, is set out below. Separate figures are shown for those in full-time education, and for those in education and Government Supported Training. There are no figures available beyond 2000. Participation estimates for 18 year olds are not available at a local level due to unavailability of information regarding term-time residential addresses for students in Higher Education.
	
		Participation in education and training -- (64)Percentage
		
			  Full-time education Total education and training(65) 
			 LEA End 1998 End 1999 End 2000 End 1998 End 1999 End 2000 
		
		
			 16 year olds   
			 Stoke-on-Trent 52 58 60 68 73 78 
			 Staffordshire 68 70 70 86 85 85 
			 17 year olds   
			 Stoke-on-Trent 38 41 46 63 64 65 
			 Staffordshire 57 57 59 79 77 77 
			 16 and 17 year olds combined   
			 Stoke-on-Trent 45 50 53 66 69 71 
			 Staffordshire 63 64 64 82 81 81 
		
	
	(64) Percentage of age group.
	(65) Includes full and part-time participation in education and Government Supported Training, counting those in both education and Government Supported Training only once. Participation rates by LEA for 16 and 17 year olds are published in an annual statistical bulletin, 'Participation in Education and Training by 16 and 17 Year Olds in Each Local Area in England'.

Higher Education

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average net expenditure on (a) support and (b) tuition of a higher education student was in each year since 1997.

Margaret Hodge: Students entering higher education under the student support scheme since 1998 have been required to make a contribution to their tuition and support, depending on their family income. The average assessed student contribution towards tuition fees is presented in the following table. As we do not have up to date and reliable data on the amount students actually spent supporting themselves, we have presented the average loan taken out by students in the table.
	Available data on average assessed student contributions toward fees, and the average loan taken out by higher education students are given in the table.
	
		Average loan and average assessed student contribution towards tuition fees(66),(67),(68) -- 
		
			  Academic year 
			  1998/99(66) 1999/2000 2000/01(69) 2001/02 (Provisional) 
		
		
			  
			  
			 Average maintenance loans(70) 2,580 3,150 3,100 3,120 
			  
			 Average assessed student contribution towards tuition fees: all students on courses subject to income assessment (71),(72),(73) n/a 470 510 n/a 
		
	
	n/a = not available
	(66) New student support arrangements in higher education came into effect in September 1998. For the first year of the new scheme, eligible new entrants received support for living costs through both grants and loans. Grants, which were assessed against family income, on average formed about a quarter of the support available. All students were entitled to a non income-assessed loan, which comprised the remaining three quarters of support available.
	(67) New entrants to higher education in 1999/2000, together with those who started in 1998/99, received support for living costs mainly through loans which are partly income-assessed. Grants for living costs are no longer available except for some limited allowances, e.g. for students with dependants; single parent students; and disabled students. Grants for students with dependants and single parent students are income-assessed but the Disabled Students' Allowance is not. Any student contributions towards income-assessed maintenance grants for students in these circumstances are not included.
	(68) Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
	(69) Latest year for which tuition fee data are available.
	(70) Student loans are available to most 'home' students on full-time undergraduate HE courses (and students on full-time and part-time postgraduate courses of initial teacher training) normally domiciled in the United Kingdom
	(71) Data relate to students domiciled in England and Wales and studying in the United Kingdom. Data are not available for 1998/99.
	(72) From 1998/99 most new students were expected to contribute towards the cost of their tuition depending on family income. The maximum contribution (1,075 in 2001/02, 1,050 in 2000/01, 1,025 in 1999/2000 and 1,000 in 1998/99) represents only about 20 per cent. to 25 per cent. of the average cost of the course. The balance is met from public funds.
	(73) Includes students on their placement year in sandwich courses and part-time courses of ITT.
	Source:
	Student Loans Company; F503G survey of local education authorities.

Higher Education

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent discussions he has had with the devolved administrations on widening participation in higher education.

Margaret Hodge: We are in regular contact and meet regularly with our colleagues in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to discuss a range of issues, including widening participation in higher education.

Learning and Skills Councils

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills why the Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire LSC rejected funding applications (a) for e-learning and ICT and (b) for basic skills from Jamia Rehmanic in 2002.

Margaret Hodge: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council. John Harwood, the Council's Chief Executive, will write to the hon. Gentleman and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.

National Skills Strategy

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to incorporate the development of (a) disabled people and (b) the socially excluded within the proposed National Skills Strategy.

Ivan Lewis: The National Skills Strategy will set out our approach to helping people who face particular difficulties in becoming part of the effective labour force, including disabled people and others affected by social exclusion.

Part-time Workers

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the impact of the part-time workers directive on staff in his Department.

Stephen Twigg: My Department welcomed the introduction of the part-time workers directive in July 2000 as supporting its commitment to family-friendly policies and helping its employees to achieve a better balance between work and home life. Its introduction had no particular impact on terms and conditions for staff in the Department, as part time and full time workers have equitable treatment on a pro-rata basis, dependent on hours worked.
	Part-time working is one of a wide range of flexible working arrangements that the Department offers.
	At 1 January 2003, 12.5 per cent. of my Department's permanent staff worked part-time, an increase of 1 per cent. from 1 January 2002.

School Budgets

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of maintained schools carrying forward a budget deficit into the current financial year; and if he will list such schools which are known to his Department.

David Miliband: Information on the balances carried forward by maintained schools at the end of the financial year 200203 will be contained in the outturn statements for that year produced by local education authorities under section 52 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. The deadline for production of these statements is 10 October 2003, and until then we do not know the number of schools in deficit at the start of 200304.

Science Technicians

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made, in conjunction with the Royal Society and the Association for Science Education, on the development of a career structure for science technicians; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: Since the Royal Society and Association for Science Education published their report in January 2002, we have been working closely with them and with the Consortium of Local Education Authorities for the Provision of Science Services to develop a career structure for science technicians. We have extended this work to include Design and Technology technicians and two guides with recommendations on career structure and induction have been produced. We are developing induction training for science technicians as part of our drive to enhance the role of support staff. Continuing professional development will be provided by the national network of science learning centres, a joint Department for Education and Skills and Wellcome Trust initiative.

Secondments

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many individuals were seconded to his Department from (a) the private sector, (b) NGOs and (c) other, in each case listing (i) from which organisation and (ii) dates of secondments, in 200203.

Charles Clarke: Information on secondments to this Department in the period April 2002 to March 2003 is set out in the table.
	
		
			 Start date End date Organisation Type 
		
		
			 1 September 2002 28 February 2003 Building Research Establishment Ltd. (BRE) Private 
			 12 January 2000 26 February 2003 Little Acorn Nursery Private 
			 15 July 2002 31 March 2003 Price Waterhouse Coopers Private 
			 11 September 2002 11 November 2002 Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) Private 
			 14 January 2002 12 July 2002 Centre for Schools Standards Private 
			 5 September 2001 4 September 2002 Nationwide Building Society Private 
			 15 July 2002 31 March 2003 Manor and Castle Development Trust Private 
			 1 February 2002 31 December 2002 Greenwich Education Action Zone Private 
			 1 November 2001 1 November 2003 Deloitte and Touche Private 
			 4 January 2001 31 March 2002 The Design and Technology Association Private 
			 21 October 2002 20 October 2004 Social Market Foundation Private 
			 8 October 2001 30 September 2003 Student Loans Company NDPB 
			 1 July 2002 30 June 2003 National Children's Home Other 
			 5 November 2001 4 November 2002 Brent Education Service Other 
			 11 November 2002 10 November 2003 Thames Valley University Other 
			 23 April 2001 31 March 2002 London borough of Harrow Other 
			 1 January 2003 31 August 2003 Northamptonshire LEA Other 
			 1 April 2003 30 September 2003 Essex county council Other 
			 17 September 2001 30 September 2002 Sheffield Hallam University Other 
			 15 January 2003 14 January 2004 Slough borough council Other 
			 5 November 2001 31 March 2003 Telford and Wrekin council Other 
			 30 July 2001 29 July 2003 London borough of Ealing Other 
			 1 September 2001 31 March 2003 Derby City LEA Other 
			 1 November 2000 30 November 2003 Walsall LEA Other 
			 1 September 2001 31 March 2002 North Derbyshire health authority Other 
			 3 February 2003 2 August 2003 Cambridge Regional College Other 
			 1 April 2001 30 June 2002 Southampton city council Other 
			 1 April 2000 31 March 2003 Birmingham city council Other 
			 1 June 2001 31 May 2003 Cambridgeshire county council Other 
			 4 June 2001 31 May 2003 London borough of Newham Other 
			 1 July 2000 30 June 2003 The Childrens Society Other 
			 15 October 2001 31 March 2002 Essex Police HQ Other 
			 19 June 2000 31 March 2003 Unemployment Unit Youth Aid Other 
			 25 April 2000 24 April 2003 Rastrick High School Other 
			 1 November 2001 31 October 2003 London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Other 
			 7 October 2002 6 October 2003 Centre for Economics of Education Other 
			 30 April 2001 31 March 2003 Huddersfield New College Other 
			 1 January 2001 31 May 2002 Leeds city council Other 
			 1 October 2001 30 September 2003 Loughborough University Other 
			 10 September 2001 14 December 2002 Birmingham Race Action Partnership Other 
			 1 October 2002 30 June 2003 West Nottinghamshire College Other 
			 15 April 2002 14 April 2004 Cranford Infants and Nursery School Other 
			 1 January 2000 31 March 2003 Litherland High School Other 
			 1 April 2000 31 March 2003 North Tyneside council Other 
			 3 September 2001 2 September 2002 West Sussex county council Other 
			 7 January 2002 6 January 2004 London borough of Lambeth Other 
			 5 June 2002 5 June 2003 Nottinghamshire county council Other 
			 4 January 2001 31 March 2002 Federation of City Farms Other 
			 1 October 2001 30 September 2003 Nottinghamshire county council Other 
			 9 July 2001 8 July 2003 Hastings College of Art and Technology Other 
			 17 June 2002 13 June 2003 Camden council Other 
			 8 January 2001 7 January 2002 London borough of Richmond Other 
			 1 November 2001 31 October 2003 Cityof Wakefield Other 
			 10 September 2001 31 January 2002 Japan Ministry of Health, and Welfare Other 
			 1 January 2002 31 March 2003 Kent county council Other 
			 5 February 2001 31 March 2002 Croydon Advisory and Inspection Centre Other 
			 30 September 2002 30 April 2003 Children's Play Council Other 
			 1 September 2001 31 August 2003 North Tyneside council Other 
			 30 October 2000 29 October 2003 Kirklees LEA Other 
			 1 September 2000 31 March 2003 South Gloucestershire LEA Other 
			 1 April 2000 30 September 2003 Westminster Student Support Other 
			 3 February 2003 2 February 2004 NACRO Other 
			 1 October 2001 30 September 2003 Birmingham city council Other 
			 1 November 2002 31 August 2003 Zaccheus Centre Other 
			 1 April 2001 31 March 2003 City of Hackney Primary Care Trust Other 
			 1 December 2000 31 March 2003 National Children's Bureau Other 
			 27 February 2002 31 March 2003 City of Bristol LEA Other 
			 1 July 2002 1 July 2003 City of Nottingham LEA Other 
			 14 October 2002 13 October 2003 Royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea Other 
			 5 November 2001 4 November 2003 London borough of Sutton Other 
			 1 November 2000 31 October 2002 Camden council Other 
			 1 October 2002 30 March 2003 Bexley Education and Leisure Department Other 
			 20 January 2003 19 January 2004 NSPCC Other 
			 24 January 2000 23 January 2003 Leeds city council Other 
			 1 May 2001 31 March 2002 Institute of Employment Studies Other 
			 1 November 2001 31 October 2003 Derbyshire county council Other 
			 2 May 2000 30 April 2003 North Tyneside council Other 
			 1 September 2001 31 August 2003 New Zealand Department of Labour Other 
			 2 December 2002 1 December 2003 New Zealand Department of Labour Other 
			 26 February 2001 22 February 2002 Council for Environmental Education Other 
			 27 January 2003 26 January 2004 West Thames College Other 
			 1 September 2001 31 August 2002 Manchester city council Other 
			 1 September 2002 31 August 2005 The Open University Other 
			 10 May 2002 9 May 2004 Herefordshire county council Other 
			 1 April 2001 31 March 2003 Lincolnshire county council Other 
			 1 October 2001 30 September 2003 Leeds city council Other 
			 1 September 2001 30 August 2002 West Kent College Other 
			 30 April 2001 29 April 2003 North Somerset council Other 
			 5 November 2001 7 November 2003 Nottingham city council Other 
			 2 August 2002 1 June 2003 Raleigh International Other 
			 1 December 2001 30 November 2003 Nottingham city council Other 
			 22 July 2002 22 July 2003 Wirral MBC Other 
			 15 October 2001 14 October 2002 Middlesbrough council Other 
			 13 March 2001 28 February 2003 Save the Children Other 
			 2 September 2002 31 August 2003 Southwark College Other 
			 3 April 2001 30 June 2003 Thomas Coram Research Unit Other 
			 4 June 2001 29 April 2003 London borough of Barking and Dagenham Other 
			 22 October 2001 30 September 2002 Tameside College Other 
			 2 April 2001 1 April 2003 University of West England Other 
			 10 March 2003 9 June 2004 Hull city council Other 
			 5 May 1997 31 May 2002 London University Other 
			 4 November 2002 30 April 2003 CFBT Other 
			 13 January 2001 3 October 2003 Scarman Trust Other 
			 2 July 2001 1 July 2003 London Guildhall University Other 
			 1 April 2002 31 December 2004 ES Other 
			 30 October 2000 31 October 2002 Suffolk county council Other 
			 1 November 2000 31 October 2003 Bradford city council Other 
			 7 October 2002 6 October 2003 Bournemouth local education authority Other 
			 1 October 2002 31 March 2003 Tameside MBC Other 
			 22 July 2002 30 September 2003 Doncaster CSV Other 
			 23 September 2002 30 June 2003 West Nottinghamshire College Other 
			 22 July 2002 30 September 2003 Doncaster CSV Other 
			 1 February 2000 30 August 2002 Manchester Metropolitan University Other 
			 4 October 1999 31 October 2002 National Audit Office Other 
			 14 May 2002 13 May 2003 London borough of Ealing Other 
			 1 September 2001 31 March 2003 Somerset county council Other 
			 1 February 2002 31 March 2003 Croydon Social Services Other 
			 1 February 2002 31 March 2003 Croydon Social Services Other 
			 21 January 2001 31 July 2003 Sheffield Hallam University Other 
			 23 September 2002 31 August 2003 Royal Forest of Dean College Other 
			 3 September 2001 2 September 2002 London School of Economics Other 
			 1 January 2003 30 September 2003 Cornwall and Devon Connexions Partnership Other 
			 1 January 2003 30 September 2003 Cornwall and Devon Connexions Partnership Other 
			 2 April 2001 31 March 2003 Hastings College of Art and Technology Other 
			 3 December 2001 2 December 2002 Nottingham city council Other 
			 20 May 2002 19 May 2003 Ministry of Education New Zealand Other 
			 7 April 1999 7 April 2002 DT: Small Business Service Other 
			 1 September 2002 31 August 2004 Stantonbury Campus Other 
			 7 October 2002 28 March 2003 Sheffield Hallam University Other 
			 5 November 2001 4 November 2003 Rochdale Metropolitan borough Other 
			 5 June 2002 4 June 2003 CEDC Other

Special Advisers

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the salary bill was for special advisers in his Department in 200203; and what it is expected to be in 200304.

Charles Clarke: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office on 24 April 2003.

Special Education Needs Tribunal

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many cases concerning schools in the Buckingham constituency were heard by the Special Education Needs Tribunal in 200102; and in how many cases the Tribunal ruled that additional support should be provided for children with special needs.

Ivan Lewis: The Tribunal does not collate statistics based on the location of schools named in appeals or attended by children who are the subject of appeals. Of 28 appeals against Buckinghamshire LEA in 200102, seven concerned the school to be named in the child's placement. Parents requested a special school placement in two of these appeals and a mainstream placement in three. In the other two the parents requested home tuition.
	Parents withdrew 17 of the 28 appeals and the LEA conceded a further five. The remaining six all concerned the detailed provision to be made for children, and in four of these the Tribunal ordered amendments to the provision specified in the statements.

Student Debt

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total level of student debt was in Shrewsbury and Atcham in each year since 1997.

Margaret Hodge: The information requested is not available centrally in respect of student loans. Data on debts for which there is no public subsidy, such as overdrafts, credit cards, and informal debts to family and friends, are not collected centrally.

Students (Maintenance Grant)

Jonathan R Shaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what his estimate is of the total annual cost is of the maintenance grant payable to poorer students.

Margaret Hodge: We estimate the steady state cost of the new Higher Education Grant to be almost 300 million. The grant will be targeted at those students from the households with the lowest income. We aim to provide the full 1,000 grant to approximately 30 per cent. of students.

Tuition Fees

Jonathan R Shaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the estimated cost is of paying the tuition fees of students from poorer backgrounds as detailed in the Higher Education White Paper.

Margaret Hodge: The cost to the Government of the public contribution to existing tuition fee remission arrangements for home and ED undergraduate students from low-income families at institutions in England is estimated at:
	
		( million)
		
			 FY 200304 200405 200506 
		
		
			  456 467 479 
		
	
	No estimates have been made of Government contributions beyond that but we have said in the White Paper that we intend to continue fee remission for students from low-income families.

University Admissions

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills based on latest admissions, whether he estimates that the universities of (a) Oxford, (b) Cambridge, (c) The London School of Economics, (d) Bristol and (e) The Royal Veterinary College would be allowed to charge top-up fees from the start if his proposals for higher education were implemented.

Margaret Hodge: That would be a matter for the Office for Fair Access, and would depend on its consideration of their access agreements. Individual universities' admission policies will be a matter for universities themselves to decide.

University Exchange Programmes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many British university students participated in international exchange programmes, where at least one term of a full academic year was spent at an institution abroad, in (a) 1995, (b) 1997, (c) 1999, (d) 2001 and (e) 2002;
	(2)  which British university had the highest percentage of students spending at least one term abroad at a foreign university institution as part of an exchange programme in the last year for which figures are available.

Margaret Hodge: The latest available information, showing the number of students who are on exchange programmes for the year as a whole, is given in the table. The data for 2001/02 show that the University of Lancaster had the highest proportion of full-time UK domiciled first degree students studying abroad as part of these programmes.
	A number of measures have been taken recently to encourage more students on UK higher education courses to study abroad as part of their course. These include giving access to higher loans for all students who study abroad; simplifying the student support arrangements; offering funding incentives to higher education institutions with mobile students; and wider and better publicity for the Socrates-Erasmus and other programmes.
	
		Full-time UK domiciled first degree students on exchange programmes who were studying overseas for the whole of the academic year
		
			  Students 
		
		
			 199596 3,271 
			 199798 3,703 
			 19992000 5,464 
			 200102 4,934 
		
	
	Source:
	Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)

Work and Community-based Learning

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures he plans to introduce to encourage (a) work-based learning and (b) community-based learning.

Ivan Lewis: Modern Apprenticeships (MA) provide young people in England with quality work-based learning in craft, supervisory and technician skills. We and the Learning and Skills Council are implementing Modern Apprenticeship Advisory Committee recommendations to ensure the highest standards and to encourage take-up by employers and young people. We have adopted a challenging Public Service Agreement (PSA) target for MA entrants by 200428 per cent. of young people to begin an MA by the age of 22. A new Modern Apprenticeship Task Force is now taking a key role in promoting MA to employers and thereby contributing to increased take-up.
	From August this year, the Government is introducing Entry to Employment (E2E), a work-based programme for those young people not yet ready or able to enter a Modern Apprenticeship. It will enable young people to progress on to Foundation Modern Apprenticeships, sustained employment or further vocational learning opportunities.
	The Government continues to encourage community-based learning. For example, in my speech at NIACE's Autumn Annual Conference on 10 December I reaffirmed my commitment to the breadth of purpose of adult and community learning, from fostering social inclusion to learning for leisure.
	In June, we will be publishing the Skills Strategy and Delivery Plan, setting out a wide ranging agenda for raising skill levels amongst young people and adults to meet employers' skill needs.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Accountants

Michael Foster: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what evidence he has collated on the difference in the cost of employing accountants in (a) Worcestershire County Council, (b) Warwickshire, (c) Gloucestershire County Council and (d) Birmingham, (e) Coventry, (f) Dudley, (g) Sandwell, (h) Solihull, (i) Walsall and (j) Wolverhampton Metropolitan District Councils; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Raynsford: The New Earning Survey (NES) contains information on the occupation and workplace of participants. Management accountants and chartered or certified accountants are two of the occupations into which NES participants are categorised. At a more aggregate level, information on the occupation of NES participants is one variable that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister analyses in calculating each area cost factor. Full details of the ACA calculation are available on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister website at http://www.local.odpm.gov.uk/finance/0304/acatechs.pdf

Affordable Housing

Helen Southworth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he will take to ensure that the definition of affordable housing used by his Department and local authorities reflects local pay levels rather than local housing market values.

Tony McNulty: For the purposes of securing affordable housing through the planning system, affordable housing encompasses low-cost market and subsidised housing (irrespective of tenure, ownershipwhether exclusive or sharedor financial arrangements) that will be available to people who cannot afford to rent or buy houses generally available on the open market. Local authorities are expected to define through their local plans what they consider to be affordable. Circular 6/98, Planning and Affordable Housing, advises that definitions should be framed through references to the level of local incomes and their relationship to house prices or rents, rather than to a particular price or rent.

Area Cost Adjustment

Michael Foster: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what New Earnings Survey data separating fringe and non-fringe areas in shire counties were used in his calculation of area cost adjustment.

Nick Raynsford: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister uses a number of different pieces of information from the New Earnings Survey in calculating the area cost adjustment in the fringe and non-fringe areas surrounding London. These are as follows:
	gross hourly earnings excluding overtime
	age
	sex
	industry
	occupation
	whether the worker is part time or full time
	whether the worker is employed in the public or private sector
	the year in which the earnings took place
	loss of pay marker (whether the employee lost pay due to absents etc.)
	adult rate marker (whether the employee is paid an adult rate for the job)
	upper tier local authority
	lower tier local authority.
	A full guide to the ACA calculation is available on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister website at http://www.local.odpm.gov.uk/finance/0304/acatechs.pdf

Area Cost Adjustment

Michael Foster: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for what reasons he identified a separate area cost adjustment factor for fringe and non-fringe areas in shire counties.

Nick Raynsford: The new area cost adjustment (ACA), recognises that authorities in the fringe areas around London face significantly higher wage costs than those in non-fringe areas. Examples of these increased costs are the inner and outer fringe payments made to teachers and other staff on national pay scales. These increased costs are mirrored in the ACA factors calculated by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Council Tax

John Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the 30 district councils in England with the largest rise in council tax for 200304.

Christopher Leslie: The 30 English non-metropolitan district councils with the largest percentage increase in their own Band D council tax (excluding local precepts) between 200203 and 200304 are, in descending order:
	Stratford-on-Avon,
	Weymouth and Portland,
	West Oxfordshire,
	Eastbourne,
	Fenland,
	Cherwell,
	Runnymede,
	Purbeck,
	Daventry,
	South Staffordshire,
	Elmbridge,
	Derbyshire Dales,
	Hertsmere,
	South Ribble,
	Rossendale,
	South Kesteven,
	North Dorset,
	Welwyn Hatfield,
	West Dorset,
	Three Rivers,
	Bassetlaw,
	Waveney,
	Chorley,
	Surrey Heath,
	Hastings,
	West Lindsey,
	Rushmoor,
	Mole Valley,
	Kennet,
	Cheltenham.

Crime and Disorder Act

Tim Loughton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 4 April 2003, Official Report, columns 92526W, on the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, what plans he has to discuss with the Home Office the issue of extending guidance to local authorities on evicting tenants of social landlords who have been involved in criminal activity.

Tony McNulty: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister works closely with the Home Office on matters to do with crime and anti-social behaviour, and will continue to do so. There are no plans to issue specific guidance to social landlords on evicting tenants who have been involved in criminal activity.

Departmental Creche Facilities

John Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what creche facilities are provided by his Department and at what cost.

Christopher Leslie: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (central) currently provides three subsidised child care places in one of the central London nurseries, run by Westminster Children Society, costing overall approximately 16,588.69 per year. This includes administration charge internally and administration charge by the Home Office for managing the contractual aspect of the childcare contract. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister also participates in the Westminster Holiday Playscheme, which provides holiday care for children of school age. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister subsidises 50 per cent. of the 26 per day cost of each place.
	In addition the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has inherited responsibility for the provision of child care vouchers for two former members of the Cabinet Office at a rate of 21.42 per week for 48 weeks a year.

Fire Service Staff (Shrewsbury)

Paul Marsden: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many Fire Service staff based in Shrewsbury fire station were subjected to (a) verbal and (b) physical attacks in the last year.

Nick Raynsford: The information is not available centrally about individual fire stations, but in 200001, there were five incidents involving firefighters in the Shropshire Brigade. These were:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Missile throwing 1 
			 Criminal damage 1 
			 Assaults 2 
			 Other(74) 1 
		
	
	(74) Fireworks thrown at a crew.
	None of the assaults resulted in injury requiring absence from work and none of the incidents resulted in prosecution or conviction.

Heath Fires

Hugo Swire: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether his Department has issued guidelines to fire brigades on naturally ignited fires on heath and common land.

Nick Raynsford: No specific guidance has been issued regarding naturally ignited fires on heath and common land. However, following the drought of the summer of 1976, a Joint Working Party was set up to review the experience of the Fire Service during this period. The Report of the group was issued under cover of Dear Chief Officer Letter 28/1978 and made 61 recommendations that may be relevant to the management of such fires. A copy of the report has been placed in the Library.

Home Condition Reports

Jon Trickett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discussions his Department has had on establishing a certification scheme to regulate the proposed home condition reports.

Tony McNulty: Discussions have been held with representatives of consumers and the main industry stakeholders, and this dialogue continues. In addition, these organisations have formed a steering group which is providing advice and assistance with the evaluation and development of the home condition report and the arrangements for certification schemes.

Homebuy Scheme

David Ruffley: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many people in the Bury St. Edmunds constituency have received interest free equity loans under the Homebuy scheme; and what the total amount of funding was.

Tony McNulty: Within the Bury St. Edmunds district, 15 units have been bought through interest free equity loans under the Homebuy scheme covering the financial years 19992000 to 200203. A further 10 units are likely to be purchased during this current financial year. The total amount of funding for all 25 units is 649,635.

Housing Bill

Jon Trickett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he will publish his response to the consultation on the draft Housing Bill; and when the Housing Bill will be introduced.

Tony McNulty: The consultation on the draft Housing Bill ends on 9 June 2003. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will then consider all the responses and produce a Government response to the consultation during the autumn. The Housing Bill will be introduced when parliamentary time is available.

Human Rights Act

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 10 February 2003, Official Report, column 577W, on the Human Rights Act, by what means inspectors are made aware of the application of the Human Rights Act 1998 to their work; and if he will place copies in the Library.

Christopher Leslie: Training for all Audit Commission inspectors includes a session covering the application of the Human Rights Act to their work.

Gas Safety

Jon Trickett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent discussions he has had with the Department for Work and Pensions about gas safety.

Christopher Leslie: None. However, officials of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister maintain contact with colleagues in the Health and Safety Executive and elsewhere to ensure that the Building Regulations are consistent with legislation specifically covering the safety of gas appliances and installations, and that legislation collectively addresses the hazards associated with gas installations in buildings satisfactorily.

New Dimensions

Paul Goodman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what (a) decontamination equipment and (b) provisions for the shelter of victims of terrorist attack and how many (i) boiler suits and (ii) thermal blankets he will make available to Wycombe firefighters under the New Dimensions proposals.

Nick Raynsford: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's New Dimension programme will provide 80 special purpose vehicles for carrying mass decontamination equipment. These Incident Response vehicles will carry decontamination units, each capable of decontaminating large numbers of people and ancillary equipment, including temporary clothing for affected members of the public. This equipment will be deployed flexibly, on the basis of a comprehensive analysis of risk, to meet the needs of all fire authorities, including Wycombe firefighters. The new equipment being purchased includes 4,400 additional gas tight suits, doubling the fire service capability, to enable firefighters to work safely. The new decontamination Disrobe and Re-robe packs contain insulated clothing which provides good protection from inclement weather.

Official Residences

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister on how many occasions since his appointment he has made use of each of his official residences for official purposes.

Christopher Leslie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (David Davis) on 28 March 2003, Official Report, columns 48586W.

Parish Councils

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what requirement there is for parish councils to appoint independent internal auditors; what advice the Audit Commission gives to parish councils on this matter; and if he will make a statement.

Christopher Leslie: A statutory requirement for parish councils and other local authorities to maintain an adequate and effective system of internal audit, in accordance with proper internal audit practices, is set out in Regulation 6 of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003. There has been a legal requirement for local councils to maintain a system of internal audit for many years. Guidance on good practice in carrying out internal audit is available in Governance and Accountability in Local Councils in England and Wales. A Practitioners' Guide. This publication is issued by the National Association of Local Councils and the Society of Local Council Clerks, in consultation with an advisory group including local council representatives, relevant Government Departments and the Audit Commission. The Guide is currently being updated.

Post Offices

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the cost is of subsidy proposals to keep (a) rural and (b) urban post offices in areas of deprivation open.

Stephen Timms: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government regards it as most important that all communities have good access to postal and Government services and we are committed to doing all we can to support the management of the company to ensure a viable Post Office network for the future. We are investing very substantial sums in supporting this transformation of the networksome 2 billion in total over the next five years, including 450 million funding to support the rural network as a whole until 2006.
	A number of measures are already in place to maintain the network of rural post offices. These include the formal requirement placed on the Post Office in November 2000 to prevent any avoidable closures and the establishment of a 2 million capital start up fund to support volunteer and community initiatives to maintain or re-establish a post office facility where the traditional post office is under threat of closure or has recently closed. Under this scheme, grants of up to 20,000 are available to support the costs of relocating or refurbishing alternative premises. Of the 2 million fund to support community post office initiatives 165 grants have been approved, totalling 1,231,454, and payments totalling 931,478 paid as at end of March 2003.
	On the urban network, the Government have provided 210 million for the urban reinvention programme, and provided 15 million for a scheme to support offices in deprived urban areas throughout England, through grants for capital investment. Similar schemes have been launched in Scotland and Wales.

Public Service Agreement

John Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many and what grades of officials are responsible for the monitoring of progress towards the public service agreement targets of the Department.

Christopher Leslie: Monitoring progress towards the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Public Service Agreement targets is undertaken by a wide variety of staff at all levels throughout the organisation.

Regional Assembly (Referendum)

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether his assessment of the level of interest in holding a referendum on establishing an elected regional assembly will be determined by the assessment of the responses to the Soundings Process; how it will take into account the number and range of individuals and organisations within the region; what public opinion surveys will be (a) commissioned and (b) considered in making the decision; and how local authorities will be consulted.

Nick Raynsford: The results of the soundings exercise will be a major factor in ascertaining the level of interest in each English region in holding a referendum about establishing an elected regional assembly.
	My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister will consider all relevant views, information and evidence drawn to his attention by the soundings exercise when he decides in which region(s) to conduct a local government review. Ultimately, the decision is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister's judgment, for which he will be accountable to Parliament.
	No public opinion surveys have been commissioned by the Government about the level of interest in a referendum about an elected assembly. However, we made it clear that the responses of organisations would be strengthened if they could show that they had consulted widely. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has received a number of surveys and opinion polls in response to our soundings exercise. We will consider them alongside other relevant responses and published material, taking into account how robust, reliable and representative they are.
	The Government wrote to all principal local authorities on 2 December 2002 inviting them to respond to the soundings exercise. Local authorities were written to again on 8 April 2003 to inform them of amendments made to the Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Bill in the House of Lords and giving them the opportunity to add to or change their response to the exercise if they so wished.

Regions White Paper

Joyce Quin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress has been made towards the aim in the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice, of encouraging applicants to public bodies from all parts of England; what change there has been in the geographical diversity of appointees to NDPBs and public bodies sponsored by ODPM since the publication of the White Paper; and what the outcome was of the regional seminars held by the Cabinet Office for women interested in serving on a public body.

Nick Raynsford: All vacancies on NDPBs sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are advertised:
	on our own website
	on the Cabinet Office Public Appointments new vacancies website
	on the Just Do Something website
	on the Research Research website and the publication Research Fortnight
	Vacancies on some of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's larger bodies will normally be advertised in a variety of newspapers and other publications, including those specifically targeted at under-represented groups in public bodies such as The Voice, The Asian Times and Disability Now.
	It would be premature to try to establish a meaningful trend in the nature of appointments since May 2002, but the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is committed to a policy of encouraging diversity in the race, gender and location of appointees.
	Before the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was set up, as part of DTLR, officials attended all of the regional seminars organised by the then Cabinet Office's Women and Equality Unit during that period.
	The breakdown of new appointments to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's NDPBs by region between 14 May 2002 and 31 March 2003 is as follows:
	
		
			 Region New appointees 
		
		
			 London 9 
			 South East 3 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 2 
			 North West 1 
			 Wales 1 
			 South West 1 
			 West Midlands 1 
			 East Midlands 1

Regions White Paper

Joyce Quin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress has been made towards the aim in the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice, of encouraging Whitehall Departments to consider the balance of their staff between the centre and the regions in terms of effective policy design and implementation; and what examples there have been since the publication of the White Paper of Departments deciding between locating new streams of work (a) in and (b) outside London and the South East.

Nick Raynsford: As my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer said in his Budget statement, the Government sees a strong case for relocating more civil service and wider public sector jobs away from London and the South East. Sir Michael Lyons has been asked to review departmental strategies in this regard and make recommendations for relocation across Government as a whole. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, as one that already has a strong regional presence, will be happy to give evidence.

Right-to-buy Scheme

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the level of discounts paid under the right-to-buy scheme was in the financial year 200203.

Tony McNulty: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Ludlow (Matthew Green) on 17 March 2003, Official Report, columns 61415W.
	At present, information on the value of discount allowed is only available for the first two quarters of 200203.

Secondments

Vincent Cable: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many civil servants have been seconded from his Department to (a) the private sector, (b) NGOs and (c) other, broken down by (i) grade of civil servants seconded, (ii) location and (iii) dates of secondments in each year since 199798.

Christopher Leslie: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was created on 29 May 2002. The following table shows the information requested.
	
		
			   Start End 
			 Grade Organisation Year Month Year Month 
		
		
			 England  
			 G7 NGO 2002 December 2005 December 
			 G7 Other 2002 July 2003 July 
			 G7 Other 2002 November 2004 October 
			 SEO Other 2002 July 2004 June 
			 HEO Other 2002 July 2003 May 
			 EO Other 2002 August 2004 August 
			   
			  International   
			 G7 Other 2002 October 2006 October 
			 G7 Other 2002 August 2004 February 
			 G7 Other 2002 August 2004 February 
			 SIO Other 2003 February 2003 August 
			 HEO Other 2002 September 2003 5 September 
			 EO Other 2002 September 2004 March 
		
	
	Information for Government Offices is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Shared Ownership Homes

Helen Southworth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he will take to increase the number of shared ownership homes in areas of (a) high housing demand and (b) high housing cost in the north-west.

Tony McNulty: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister recognises that shared ownership has an important role to play in areas of high housing demand and cost. As announced in Sustainable Communities: Building for the Future on 5 February 2003, we have increased the funds available for housing to around 1.5 billion in 200304 through the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme (ADP), providing homes for both rent and low cost home ownership. The funding includes 300 million for the Challenge Fund to tackle issues of high demand areas within London and the wider south-east of England.
	Within the north-west region, over 9 million from the ADP has been approved for shared ownership schemes in 200304. As with all approvals, these are based on the regional priorities set within the regional housing statements jointly produced by the Government Offices and Housing Corporation regional offices in consultation with local partners and stakeholders.
	From 200405, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is strengthening the role of the regions to ensure that housing investment is targeted more effectively on local and regional investment priorities. Regional housing boards will advise on the best use of resources to support identified priorities in regional housing strategies.

Shared Ownership Homes

Helen Southworth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he will take to ensure that shared ownership homes continue to provide low cost ownership options for subsequent owners.

Tony McNulty: Some restrictions on a shared owner's ability to purchase 100 per cent. equity in their home already exist in rural areas to ensure that the property remains affordable for local people. In addition, housing associations have discretion in certain circumstances to restrict the purchase of further shares in shared ownership properties provided under the Housing Corporation's Challenge Fund for key workers.
	Irrespective of any restrictions, the proceeds from the sale of shared ownership properties and the purchase of further shares by shared owners are recycled by housing associations to help others in priority housing need.
	The Home Ownership Task Force, announced in Sustainable Communities: Building for the Future on 5 February 2003, and launched on 18 March 2003, is looking at the schemes currently available to potential homeowners on low or modest incomes and identifying the most effective ways of promoting sustainable homeownership. The task force's terms of reference include shared ownership. Their report is expected in the autumn.

Sickness Absence

John Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many staff in his Department were on long term sick leave in each of the last five years.

Christopher Leslie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 27 January 2003, Official Report, column 629W.

Sustainable Communities Fund

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much funding from the Sustainable Communities Fund will be made available to projects that owing to their nature do not have clearly defined financial returns.

Tony McNulty: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister expects all of the funding allocated in the Sustainable Communities Plan to provide good value for money. In some cases the benefits that will be delivered can be valued in financial returns. In others the benefits cannot be measured in that way, but this does not mean that they are any less valuable. No distinction was made between benefits that can be valued in financial terms and other benefits in allocating funding to deliver sustainable communities.

Technical Advisory Bodies

Sue Doughty: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what funding his Department allocated in (a) 2001, (b) 2002 and (c) 2003 to the regional technical advisory bodies in the (i) South East, (ii) South West, (iii) North East, (iv) North West, (v) East Midlands, (vi) West Midlands, (vii) Yorkshire and the Humber and (viii) East of England Region.

Tony McNulty: The Regional Technical Advisory Bodies on waste (RTABs) are funded by their constituent authorities. In addition, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has provided the following ad hoc funding to assist RTABs in the preparation of their regional waste strategies.
	
		
			   
		
		
			 200102  
			 North East 23,960 
			 200203  
			 South East 25,000 
			 East Midlands 26,610 
			 West Midlands 825 
		
	
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister also has a request for 25,000 before it from the South West RTAB.

Telecommunications/Broadband Services

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what bilateral meetings his Department has had with (a) the Valuations Office and (b) the Department of Trade and Industry with regard to the impact of rateable value taxation on telecommunication companies.

Christopher Leslie: Officials of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister as a matter of course, discuss rating issues with the Valuation Office Agency and the Department of Trade and Industry, and these discussions do include representations made by various ratepayers, or groups of ratepayers including the telecommunications industry.

Telecommunications/Broadband Services

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the reasons why telecommunication rateable values are (a) calculated on a system of network revenue for BT and (b) based on network assets for other fixed line telecommunication companies.

Christopher Leslie: All telecommunication network rateable values are calculated in accordance with the definition of rateable value contained in schedule 6 of the local Government Finance Act 1988. The choice of valuation methodology which is not defined, depends on the circumstances of each case and can be challenged on appeal against the assessment.
	The choice of valuation method depends on the evidence available and reliability of the evidence in each case but all rating valuation methods seek to determine the same standard of rateable value as defined in schedule 6.

Telecommunications/Broadband Services

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his forecast for the next financial year of rateable value taxation receipts from (a) BT, (b) other fixed line telecommunications operators, (c) cable TV operators, (d) cellular and wireless network operators and (e) broadcasters.

Christopher Leslie: No forecast is made centrally of the amounts of rates to be paid by individual companies. Each company will be separately billed in respect of each property it occupies which is shown on a rating list.

Telecommunications/Broadband Services

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his assessment of the impact of rateable value taxation on (a) alternative telecommunication companies and (b) the level of investment in new broadband infrastructure.

Christopher Leslie: No assessment has been made. However, the Government, in their response last month to the Broadband Stakeholders Group second annual report, undertook to review the business rating system as it applies to communications infrastructure.

Telephones

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) mobile telephones and (b) car telephones were held by (i) his Department, (ii) his Department's agencies and (iii) his Department's non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1997.

Christopher Leslie: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was created on 29 May 2002. The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Telephones

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) mobile telephones and (b) car telephones were recorded as (i) lost or (ii) stolen by (A) his Department, (B) his Department's agencies and (C) his Department's non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1997; how many were reported to the police in each case; how many resulted in an insurance claim; and what the outcome was in each case.

Christopher Leslie: Lost phones are dealt with as a local matter by the holding group and no central records are readily available to answer the question. It is the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's general policy, not to take insurance cover, in line with Government Accounting recommendations.

Tenancy Deposit Schemes

Anne Campbell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he will publish a response to the consultation exercise on making tenancy deposit schemes mandatory.

Tony McNulty: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister hopes to announce the results of the consultation in the next month or two.

Tenancy Deposit Schemes

Anne Campbell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to make it his policy to introduce enabling clauses for mandatory tenancy deposit schemes in this Session.

Tony McNulty: When the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announces the results of the recent consultation into Tenancy Money: Probity and Protection, it will make clear the means that will be used to implement the decision on the way ahead.

Tenancy Deposit Schemes

Anne Campbell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the effects on users of closing the pilot project on the tenancy deposit schemes.

Tony McNulty: A full research assessment of the pilot tenancy deposits scheme was published soon after the consultation on tenancy deposits was begun last November. The future of the pilot will be announced at the same time as a decision on the results of the consultation.

Travellers

Tim Loughton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he last met (a) local authority leaders and (b) Home Office Ministers to discuss extending police powers to remove travellers to senior council enforcement officers.

Tony McNulty: The proposals to enable police services to have an additional power to move unauthorised gipsy/traveller camps on to authorised sites has yet to be worked up by the Home Office. Local authorities will be informed once a legislative vehicle has been identified to take the proposals forward.

Tunbridge Wells and Kent Councils

Archie Norman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of central funding provided to (a) Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and (b) Kent County Council was ring-fenced in each year since 1997.

Nick Raynsford: I refer the hon. Member to the pursuant answer given on 14 April 2003, Official Report, columns 51113W.

Websites

Tim Yeo: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the (a) cost of and (b) number of visitors to each website operated by his Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which his Department is responsible in each year since its establishment.

Christopher Leslie: For details of the cost of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's main website (www.odpm.gov.uk), I refer the hon. Member to the answer to the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow) on 11 April 2003, Official Report, column 426W.
	During the period 1 July (when individual statistics were first available for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website) to 31 March 2003 the total number of page impressions was 16,298,604.
	Calculation of the cost of, and the number of page impressions for, every website operated by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, each agency and non-departmental public body for which the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is responsible could be done only at disproportionate cost.

PRIVY COUNCIL

Accountancy Services

John Bercow: To ask the President of the Council what the total cost to his Department was for accountancy services in 200203.

John Reid: The total net cost for accountancy services in 200203 was 14,250.00.

Annual Report

John Bercow: To ask the President of the Council when the 2002 annual report of his Department will be published.

John Reid: The Department does not separately publish an annual report. However, details of the annual report are published as part of the 'Privy Council Office Resource Accounts 200102' and can be purchased through The Stationery Office: ISBN 0/0 2920524.

Cinematic Co-production (Amendment) Order

John Bercow: To ask the President of the Council what representations he has received about the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-production (Amendment) Order.

John Reid: None.

Energy Policy

Tim Yeo: To ask the President of the Council, if he will make a statement, in relation to the Privy Council and each agency and non-departmental public body for which the Office is responsible, on (a) the amount of energy consumed, (b) spending on (i) energy and (ii) energy efficiency measures, (c) the amount saved through energy efficiency measures and (d) energy policy in each of the last five years.

John Reid: The information requested on energy consumption and savings for the Privy Council Office (PCO), where available, is as follows:
	
		
			  Energy consumption Energy costs 
			  2 Carlton Gardens Judicial Committee(75)  2 Carlton Gardens  Judicial Committee(76) 
			  Electricity (kWh) Gas (kWh)  Electricity () Heating () Electricity () Gas () 
		
		
			 200203 132,719 165,230 n/a 9,760.85 3,179.39 10,014.33 2,3715.28 
			 199899 to 200102 (77) (77) n/a (77) (77) (77) (77) 
		
	
	(75) Cabinet Office provides this accommodation and calculates consumption and costs.
	(76) The Privy Council Office are billed by the Cabinet Office for these costs.
	(77) This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Energy efficiency and savings
	The Department has introduced two main energy saving measures(i) the introduction of energy saving light bulbs in both 2 Carlton Gardens and Downing Street. These light bulbs last twelve times longer than a standard bulb although exact energy savings have not been calculated and (ii) on three occasions since 1999 the Department has lowered the temperature of heating by one degree with an estimated financial saving of over 10 per cent. of our annual costs.
	Energy policy
	The Department is committed to working towards the Government's targets on energy efficiency. Figures provided are raw data and are not adjusted for either weather or estate changes.

National Minimum Wage

John Bercow: To ask the President of the Council what the estimated cost is in 200304 to his Department of the increase in the national minimum wage from 4.20 per hour to 4.50 per hour.

John Reid: The Privy Council Office will not be affected by the increase in the national minimum wage. All staff, including temporary and casual ones, are paid at above this level.

Part-time Workers

John Bercow: To ask the President of the Council what assessment he has made of the impact of the Part-time Workers Directive on staff in his Department.

John Reid: The Privy Council Office is committed to helping its staff achieve a reasonable work-life balance. Part-time working is an option within my Department's flexible working scheme, which was in place before the Directive came into force. The scheme guarantees that all staff are treated equally favourably as regards their contractual terms and conditions, whatever their preferred working pattern.

Primary and Secondary Legislation

Simon Hughes: To ask the President of the Council if he will arrange for the annual publication of a compiled list of primary and secondary legislation which has come into force in the previous year, with the dates on which they came into force, and including commencement dates for sections of Acts coming into force in that same year other than on the day of Royal Assent.

John Reid: No. Monthly and annual lists of Statutory Publications are compiled for the Queen's Printer and published by The Stationery Office Ltd. which include details of all new primary and secondary legislation. The information provided includes the coming into force date for all secondary legislation. The commencement dates of primary legislation are set out in either primary or secondary legislation, and are therefore already published by the Queen's Printer (and accessible via www.hmso.gov.uk).
	There are also a variety of commercial publications which distil and re-present the information published by the Queen's Printer, and there seems to be no need to supplement them.

Primary and Secondary Legislation

Simon Hughes: To ask the President of the Council if he will arrange for the annual publication of a compiled list of primary and secondary legislation which has been repealed in the previous year, including the dates on which they were repealed.

John Reid: No. Her Majesty's Stationery Office already produce tables which show the effects of legislation on previous legislation. Full details of repeal dates are set out in the legislation referred to in the tables and this is published on the HMSO website (www.hmso.gov.uk).

Privy Council

Hugo Swire: To ask the President of the Council for which countries the Privy Council remains the highest court of law.

John Reid: The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the court of final appeal for United Kingdom overseas territories, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man and the following countries:
	Antigua and Barbuda
	Bahamas
	Barbados
	Belize
	Brunei
	Dominica
	Grenada
	Jamaica
	Kiribati
	Mauritius
	New Zealand
	St. Christopher and Nevis
	St. Lucia
	St. Vincent and the Grenadines
	Trinidad and Tobago
	Tuvalu.
	In the case of Brunei the Judicial Committee advises the Sultan of Brunei as to how the appeal should be determined, and in the cases of the Republics of Dominica, Kiribati, Mauritius and Trinidad and Tobago the Judicial Committee itself determines the appeal. In all other cases the appeal lies to Her Majesty in Council, to whom the Judicial Committee gives its advice.
	In the case of Brunei, appeals lie to the Judicial Committee in civil cases only, and in the case of Kiribati appeals lie only in constitutional cases affecting a Banaban.

Public Service Agreement

John Bercow: To ask the President of the Council (a) how many and (b) what grades of officials are responsible for the monitoring of progress towards the public service agreement targets of his Department.

John Reid: Owing to the nature of Privy Council Office business, and with the agreement of HM Treasury, my Department does not have a Public Service Agreement.

Special Advisers

John Bercow: To ask the President of the Council what the salary bill was for special advisers in his Department in 200203; and what it is expected to be in 200304.

John Reid: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office on 24 April 2003, Official Report, reference 108495.

University Charters

Hugo Swire: To ask the President of the Council which establishments have had university charters conferred on them since 1973.

John Reid: Only two universities have been incorporated by charter in the relevant period, but charters have also been granted to a number of other higher education institutions. Full details are given in the following table:
	
		
			 Institution Date 
		
		
			 Universities (two)  
			 University of Buckingham 11 February 1983 
			 University of Ulster 31 July 1984 
			   
			 Cambridge (six)  
			 Darwin College, Cambridge 9 June 1976 
			 Wolfson College, Cambridge 27 October 1976 
			 Clare Hall, Cambridge 12 September 1984 
			 Robinson College, Cambridge 30 October 1984 
			 Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge 22 July 1997 
			 St. Edmunds College, Cambridge 22 April 1998 
			   
			 Oxford (five)  
			 Wolfson College, Oxford 18 February 1981 
			 Linacre College, Oxford 5 June 1986 
			 Mansfield College, Oxford 11 April 1995 
			 Templeton College, Oxford 11 April 1995 
			 Manchester College, Oxford 23 November 1995 
			   
			 University of London (four)  
			 Queen Mary and Westfield College 2 August 1989 
			 Goldsmith's College, University of London 1 November 1989 
			 University of London Institute of Education 10 June 1987 
			 King's College, London(78) 13 February 1980 
			   
			 Others (seven)  
			 College of Law 12 November 1975 
			 London Graduate School of Business Studies 8 July 1986 
			 College of Ophthalmologists 23 March 1988 
			 The Henley Management College 21 May 1991 
			 Royal College of Anaesthetists 11 February 1992 
			 The College of Optometrists 28 June 1995 
			 College Paediatrics and Child Health 23 July 1996 
		
	
	(78) First awarded charter in 1829 then a new charter in 1980.

HEALTH

Ritalin

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of school children taking the drug Ritalin; and if he will make a statement]

Jacqui Smith: Information is not collected centrally on the number of children taking Ritalin. Ritalin is one of the proprietary names for methylphenidate hydrochloride. In 2001, 208,500 prescription items of methylphenidate hydrochloride were dispensed in the community in England.

Rheumatologists

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the need for more consultant rheumatologists.

John Hutton: The NHS Plan recognises that the National Health Service needs more staff and commits the Government to increasing the size of the NHS workforce. By 2004, the NHS Plan states that there will be 7,500 more consultants and 1,000 more specialist registrars than in 1999. These targets are not specialty specific.
	The workforce review team meets annually with specialty representatives to discuss training capacity and particular workforce issues. Based on these meetings and other intelligence, the review team makes recommendations on the required expansion of training opportunities in the specialty.
	We are increasing specialist registrars (SpR) numbers. For 200304, trusts will have scope to create up to 40 locally funded SpR training opportunities in rheumatology.
	Current workforce projections indicate that by September 2004, there will be around 80 additional trained specialists in rheumatology over a September 2000 baseline. As at 31 March 2002, there were 430 consultants in rheumatology.

Community Equipment Services

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has (a) undertaken and (b) commissioned on the uses to which the integrated community equipment stores budget has been put; and if he will place a copy in the Library.

Jacqui Smith: Additional funding for the integration of community equipment services has been made available to social services and health services as a result of both the 2000 and 2002 spending review settlements. It has been distributed to councils, health authorities and recently primary care trusts as part of their baseline allocations. The Department has not commissioned any research into the uses to which the additional funding has been put.

AAT Deficiency

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to give babies the heel prick test for AAT Deficiency in the near future.

Jacqui Smith: The United Kingdom National Screening Committee provides advice to Ministers on all aspects of screening policy. To assess the evidence for any proposed new screening programme, the NSC uses criteria covering, for example, the nature of the condition, the effectiveness of the test, and the diagnostic and treatment options. There are no plans at present to introduce a heel prick test in babies for alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency, as there is not yet research evidence to support a universal programme.

Accident and Emergency Services

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of accident and emergency admissions were admitted to hospital in each of the past three years.

David Lammy: The proportion of accident and emergency admissions who were admitted to hospital in each of the last three years is 100 per cent.

Accident and Emergency Services

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of accident and emergency patients were (a) admitted to hospital and (b) discharged in the past year.

David Lammy: 17 per cent. of patients attending the accident and emergency (AE) or minor injury service were admitted to hospital in 200102.
	Only patients admitted to hospital can be classed as having been discharged. Therefore, AE patients not admitted to hospital are not classed as discharged patients.

Agency Social Workers

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many agency social workers, who have worked for local authority social services departments, have been found to be unable to speak English; when he last met social services departments to discuss agency social workers unable to speak English; and what guidance he has issued to local authorities regarding the use of agency social workers who are unable to speak English.

Jacqui Smith: Information about the ability of agency social workers to speak English is not collected centrally. I have not met with social services departments to discuss agency workers ability to speak English.
	The Department of Health does not publish specific guidance in relation to the ability of agency staff to speak English, but there are relevant sections in the Care Homes Regulations and the Department has published a range of National Minimum Standards documents, all of which set out standards in relation to staff competence and qualifications in social care provision.
	Regulations 18 and 19 of the Care Homes Regulations 2001 require all staff to be suitably qualified, competent, experienced and fit to work in the care home.
	The National Minimum Standards expect that residents will be communicated with in a language or format appropriate to them, which would in most cases mean English.

Alzheimer's Disease (Memantine)

David Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will decide whether the drug Memantine should be made available on the NHS to treat Alzheimer's disease; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) will appraise memantine, for the treatment of Alzheimer's Disease, as part of the eighth wave of its work programme. Until NICE has made its recommendations, local decisions are being made about its availability on the National Health Service based on each area's interpretation of publicly available effectiveness data.

Arthritis

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when variations in access to services for arthritis sufferers across England will be eliminated; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: We have made clear our commitment to cut National Health Service waiting times for all patients. Patients in need of orthopaedic procedures are already benefiting from this. Between December 2001 and December 2002, the number of people waiting longer than 12 months fell by 60.3 per cent. The NHS is on target to reduce maximum waiting times to six months by the end of 2005.
	Our policies to improve general hospital care, especially through the new single assessment process, will ensure that the health care needs of older peoplewho are the main sufferers from arthritiswill be properly targeted. This will ensure that the services that are provided are most appropriate to older people's needs, including people with arthritis.
	In the past year, two new classes of drugs, Cox II inhibitors and anti-TNF therapy have been made available to arthritis patients, following reviews by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE). In addition, NICE is reviewing the drug, Anakinra, for its clinical and cost effectiveness in treating rheumatoid arthritis.
	We have issued directions obliging strategic health authorities and primary care trusts to provide appropriate funding for treatments recommended by NICE. This is in line with our manifesto commitment to ensure that patients receive drugs and treatments recommended by NICE on the NHS if considered appropriate by their clinicians.
	We are determined to ensure that the obligation of health bodies to follow NICE guidance is carried out. The Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) and NICE have agreed a methodology for CHI to incorporate the monitoring of NICE guidance in its clinical governance reviews. Specifically, CHI now looks to see if NHS trusts have mechanisms in place to implement and comply with NICE guidance. CHI will also support and facilitate clinicians to discuss when NICE guidance is and is not followed on an individual patient basis.

NHS Staff (Shrewsbury)

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many ambulance workers based in Shrewsbury were subjected to (a) verbal and (b) physical attacks in the last year;
	(2)  how many (a) verbal and (b) physical attacks there were on NHS staff working at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital in the last year.

David Lammy: At the Royal Shrewsbury Hospitals National Health Service Trust from 1 April 2002 until 31 March 2003, there were 14 physical assaults and 35 incidents of verbal abuse on staff. Figures are collected by organisation and therefore are not available for ambulance workers based in Shrewsbury.
	Source:
	Royal Shrewsbury Hospitals NHS Trust.

Audiology Tests

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of waiting times for audiology tests in NHS hospitals in (a) West Kent and (b) England.

Jacqui Smith: We do not collect waiting times centrally for non-consultant led specialities such as audiology.

Audiology Tests

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of waiting times for audiology tests in NHS hospitals in (a) the Hemsworth constituency and (b) England.

Jacqui Smith: We do not collect waiting times centrally for non-consultant led specialities such as audiology.
	We know that demand for hearing aids rises when local services begin to provide digital hearing aids as part of a modernised hearing aid service, and this, combined with a recognised shortage of audiologists, can affect waiting times. The Royal National Institute for the Deaf project team and the Modernisation Agency Team are working with services as they modernise, to help them tackle increased demand and keep waiting lists as low as possible. We are introducing a new, more streamlined patient process in modernised sites, are looking at ways to increase the number of trained audiologists in the longer term and are exploring the role that the private sector can play in boosting national health service capacity and reducing waiting times.

Blood

Dai Havard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much NHS money has been paid out in each of the last five years to people as a result of (a) clinical errors from blood transfusions and (b) infection from contaminated blood and blood product.

Hazel Blears: Information is not collected separately on compensation for clinical errors from blood transfusions and infection from contaminated blood and blood products arising in National Health Service hospitals. However, the NHS Summarised Accounts in England specify that the gross figure for all claims for clinical negligence in 200102 was 446 million.
	The National Blood Authority (NBA) has settled seven claims in the past five years, which involve either clinical errors from blood transfusions or infection from contaminated blood or blood products. The table shows the total payments made by the NBA in respect of these claims including the legal costs of both sides.
	
		
			 Year Clinical errors from blood transfusions Infection from contaminated blood and blood products 
		
		
			 199899 7,131 0 
			 19992000 0 0 
			 200001 0 99,188 
			 200102 29,320 485,739 
			 200203 0 1,098,147 
			 Total 36,451 1,683,074 
		
	
	In addition, the NBA has made payments of:
	
		
			 Year  
		
		
			 200102 5,114,035 
			 200203 6,105,277 
		
	
	following Mr. Justice Burton's judgment of 26 March 2001 under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 in respect of patients infected with hepatitis C through blood transfusions between March 1988 and September 1991.

Cancer Services

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to tackle the shortage of radiologists needed for breast cancer screening.

John Hutton: Consultant numbers in the radiology group have risen by 14.3 per cent., from 1,473 in September 1997 to 1,683 in 2001. In 200304, central funding is available to support the implementation of 78 additional training posts in clinical radiology. This will support further increases in consultant numbers. In addition, the Department's global recruitment campaign and the International Fellowship Scheme have encouraged consultants, including radiologists, to apply for work in the National Health Service.
	Action to address shortfalls not only includes increasing numbers in training but also modernising roles and developing new ways of working for doctors alongside other staff.
	A specific component of the current skill mix projects in radiography is developing the role of the radiographer into both advanced and (non medical) consultant practice.
	These new and innovative ways of working have been tried, tested and evaluated in breast screening and are now being implemented across the service. In addition to the advanced radiographer roles, a new grade of assistant practitioner, who will also undertake some of the tasks currently carried out by radiographers, will be introduced, providing them with the capacity to develop and enhance their role.

Cancer Services

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Government have achieved their targets in increasing the numbers of (a) diagnostic radiographers, (b) therapeutic radiographers and (c) radiologists as set out in the Cancer Plan.

John Hutton: The Cancer Plan set targets for diagnostic radiographers to increase by 4 per cent., therapeutic radiographers to increase by 16 per cent., and consultants in radiology to increase by 17 per cent., by 2006 over 1999 levels.
	The Government has made significant progress towards these targets. As at September 2001, there were 11,160 diagnostic radiographers and 1,540 therapeutic radiographers employed in the National Health Service, increases of 3 per cent., or 320 and 3 per cent., or 50, respectively since the baseline. As at March 2002, there were 1,680 consultants in radiology, an increase of 11 per cent., or 173, since the 1999 Cancer Plan baseline.

Cancer Services

John Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether there is a teenage cancer unit in the Solihull constituency.

David Lammy: There is no teenage cancer unit in Solihull. Teenage and other cancer sufferers are likely to be referred to either the University Hospitals Birmingham National Health Service Trust or the Birmingham Children's Hospital NHS Trust, the providers of specialist cancer services for the area.

Care Homes

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who pays the monetary difference when there are shortfalls between care home fees and local authority contributions for people who are in need of long term care but (a) have no income or third-party financial help and (b) have capital wealth below the lower capital limit set out in Local Authority Circular (LAC(2003)8).

Jacqui Smith: It is rare for individuals to have no income whatsoever. However, the majority of care home residents do not have sufficient income to meet care home fees and have assets below the upper capital limit. In these situations, they can approach their local council for financial support. Residents should contribute to care costs according to the National Assistance (Assessment of Resources) Regulations 1992, and neither they nor third parties should be asked to make top-up payments in addition to the resident's assessed contribution in order to meet assessed needs.
	If there is a difference between what a council would usually expect to pay for residential care and care home fees, the burden of meeting the shortfall should not be borne by residents or third parties if the residential services are necessary to meet assessed need. It is the council that should make up the difference. These matters are fully set out in the National Assistance Act 1948 (Choice of Accommodation) Directions 1992 (The Direction on Choice) and the amending Direction, the National Assistance Act 1948 (Choice of Accommodation) (Amendment) (England) Directions 2001.
	Where residents choose to enter more expensive accommodation than the council would usually pay, it is appropriate for residents, in limited circumstances, or third parties to make up the difference between the care home fees and the sum of the resident's assessed contribution and the council's contribution up to its usual cost.

Care Homes

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what measures he took to consult care home owners before the recent increase in fees paid by care providers for registration to the National Care Standards Commission;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on his policy towards fee increases for care providers registering with the National Care Standards Commission.

Jacqui Smith: It has always been the Government's policy that the recurrent regulatory costs of the National Care Standards Commission should be borne by providers and purchasers of care.
	The Government undertook a wide-ranging, public, consultation on the framework for registration fees during the summer of 2001.

Care Homes

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on (i) care home accommodation prices and (ii) nursing care prices for the last five years in (A) St Helens and (B) Merseyside; and if she will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: The Department has not commissioned or evaluated research on care home accommodation prices and nursing care for the last five years in St Helens and Merseyside.
	Recent research on care homes issues can be found in the document titled The Residential Care and Nursing Home Sector for Older People: An Analysis of Past Trends, Current and Future Demand, published on 8 August 2002, copies of which are available in the Library and on the Department's website at www.doh.gov.uk/careanalvsis/residentialcarept.pdf.

Care Homes

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assistance is provided to the elderly to negotiate contracts with care home owners if they are considered financially able to pay under the guidelines set out in Local Authority Circular (LAC(2003)8).

Jacqui Smith: Where individuals have the capacity or the support of their families to enter residential accommodation themselves, and are not entitled to public funding, councils should nevertheless carry out assessments of their needs if requested and provide general information on residential care and specific information on care homes in their areas. It will be up to individuals or their families to negotiate their own contracts. In doing so they should be directed to Standard 2 of the National Minimum Standards for Care Homes for Older People, which sets out the terms and conditions that should underpin such contracts.

Care Homes

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the improper use of personal expense allowances (PEA) by care homes; what means exist to ensure patients receive their PEA; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: The Department of Health has not commissioned research into the use of the personal expenses allowance. However, the Department has been grateful for the research conducted by Help the Aged into this matter and the subsequent report Friday is pay daypublished in December 2001.
	On the basis of the Help the Aged report, dialogue with other national organisations and correspondence received by the Department, Local Authority Circular LAC(2002)11 reminded councils in March 2002 that personal expenses allowances should not be spent on aspects of board, lodgings and care that have been contracted for by the council and/or assessed as necessary to meet individuals' needs by the council or the national health service. This advice was repeated in Local Authority Circular LAC(2003)8.

Care Homes

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the ratio is of registered nurses to residents in care homes in (a) Merseyside, (b) St Helens, (c) Wigan and (d) Warrington.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not centrally available.

Chemical Attacks (Preparations)

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was of (a) providing and (b) withdrawing defective equipment aimed at protecting NHS staff from chemical, biological and radiological hazards in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: Between October 2001 and March 2002, the Department issued interim personal protective equipment to trusts in key locations at a cost of 1 million, pending the issue of a new protective suit for ambulance and accident and emergency staff.
	Supplies of the new protective suit arrived towards the end of 2002. This was part of a 5 million capital procurement programme.
	No information is available centrally about the cost of equipment obtained by trusts prior to the national procurement programme as this was based on each organisation's local risk assessment.
	The new suit is designed to a new specification because of the new kind of risks and threats we now face post 11 September 2001. The design is based on expert advice and testingincluding from the Defence Science Technology Laboratory at Porton Downand the garments comply with the relevant European Community standards.
	Following its introduction into service, further modifications were necessary. The garments are currently being returned to the manufacturer in a phased way for modification of the foot seams and will be further improved by adding an outer gaiter to prevent water getting into boots. The cost of the modification is being met by the manufacturer and the improvement is expected to incur direct costs of 130,000 plus VAT.

Child Protection Units

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he last met child protection units in (a) Newham, (b) Haringey and (c) Lambeth concerning the shortfall in child protection social workers in these local authorities.

Jacqui Smith: I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave him on 7 April 2003, Official Report, column 95W, with regard to discussions my Department has with local authorities on the matters of recruitment of social care workers, which would also apply to the three local authorities named in the question.
	The Government are well aware of the recruitment and retention challenges that face the employers of social workers in some parts of the country. This is why we are conducting a national recruitment campaign for social care workers to support employers in attracting staff. The national social work recruitment campaign was launched in October 2001. It is aimed at informing the public about social work and social care, and encouraging recruitment and retention. The 1.5 million campaign includes both national and local press and radio advertising and particular efforts are being made in some areas, such as London and the South East, that face more serious problems with recruitment and retention of social workers.
	In addition to the recruitment campaign, we have also announced a major new specific grant. The Human Resources Development Strategy Grant is set at 9.525 million for 200304. One of the central purposes of the grant is to enable social care employers across the statutory, private and voluntary sectors to tackle problems of recruitment and retention.

Child Trafficking

Hilton Dawson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the effectiveness of the safe house operated by West Sussex county council in meeting the needs of children who have been trafficked to the UK; if he will issue good practice guidance to other local authorities on the care of children who have been trafficked; and if he will discuss with the Home Secretary the implications of the safe house project for proposals to establish a safe house for trafficked adults.

Jacqui Smith: I am aware of the important work undertaken by the West Sussex Safe Housea resource for unaccompanied asylum seeking children for whom West Sussex county council has responsibility. I understand that a proposal has been put to West Sussex county council to replace the safe house with training and support packages to carers of young people assessed as being at risk of being trafficked. It is the intention of West Sussex county council to refocus their delivery of protection and support, making it more flexible while building on the progress they have undoubtedly made.
	The White Paper, Secure Borders, Safe Haven: Integration with Diversity in Modern Britain contained a commitment to develop a best practice toolkit to raise awareness of trafficking and to help those who deal with illegal immigrants and trafficking victims to distinguish victims in genuine need and to deal with them appropriately. The toolkit, which was launched on 10 March 2003, aims to provide useful information for those dealing with both child and adult victims of trafficking. It also identifies ways in which enforcement officers may be helped to identify traffickers and obtain better evidence.
	Under the provisions of the Victims of Trafficking pilot scheme, which the Home Office also launched on 10 March, a range of support services, including safe accommodation at a number of locations, will be available for the adult women victims of trafficking who meet the criteria for the scheme.

Child Trafficking

Hilton Dawson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements are made by local authorities, in which (a) Heathrow airport, (b) Gatwick airport, (c) Manchester airport and (d) the Port of Dover are situated, to provide services for (i) unaccompanied children seeking asylum and (ii) children who are being trafficked.

Jacqui Smith: When a child enters the country alone and claims asylum, Immigration Services refer him/her immediately to the relevant local authority's social services department. The social services department will undertake a needs assessment according to the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families and will provide services accordingly. These services should be tailored to the individual needs of the child, just as they should be for any child in need.
	The provision of assistance and support to child victims of trafficking should be provided by local statutory services in response to identified needs, whether directly or through specialist agencies. Child victims of trafficking are likely to be in need of welfare services and, in many cases, protection under the Children Act 1989. Social services have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of these children following an assessment of their circumstances.

Children's Care

Hilton Dawson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has undertaken into the impact of the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 on local authority decisions on whether to accommodate children under section 20 of the Children Act 1989 or to support them under section 17 of the Children Act 1989; what plans he has to undertake such research in the future; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: None.
	The Department collects annual statistics on the numbers of children who become looked after by local authorities, the age at which they become looked after and the age at which they cease to be looked after. Analysis of these figures provides trend data and we shall be examining data post-dating the October 2001 introduction of the Children (Leaving Care) Act with an eye to any impact it may have on patterns of care.

Children's Care

Hilton Dawson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) children and (b) children seeking asylum were (i) accommodated under section 20 of the Children Act 1989 and (ii) offered support under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, broken down by local authority, in the latest 12-month period for which figures are available.

Jacqui Smith: Information on children looked after under section 20 of the Children Act 1989 will be available in the form requested for 200203 when the annual statistics are published in spring 2004. Information currently available on annual figures for children looked after by local authorities is not broken down in this way. However, the snapshot figure for children looked after on 31 March 2002 does provide such information. This information has been placed in the Library.
	The Children in Need in England survey, published by the Department in October, provides information about numbers of asylum seeking children receiving a service as children in needso including help provided under section 17 of the Children Act 1989in a sample week in September/October 2001. However this survey does not distinguish between unaccompanied children and those with their families. Nor does it give details of the type of support provided. The information is available on the Department's website at http://www.doh.gov.uk/cin/cin2001 latables.htm

Children's Care

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what specialist services are trained to deal with infant mental health.

Jacqui Smith: Child and adolescent mental health services do provide services to families with children aged up to 16 years and increasingly, aged up to 18 years.

Children's Care

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what care is available for children of parents who are in need of mental health care.

Jacqui Smith: Under Section 17 of the Children Act, social services departments can provide support and advice to children under the age of 18 who have caring responsibilities for another family member. This includes providing help to adults, where this will promote the welfare of the child. The Government have prioritised services for young carers as set out in both the Quality Protects programme (launched in 1998) and A National Strategy for Carers (1999). The Government aim to ensure that young carers gain maximum life chance benefits from educational opportunities, health care and social care and are not expected to carry inappropriate levels of caring responsibility. The Government believe that young carers are best helped as part of their family, so that they can enjoy as normal a childhood as their peers.
	To that end we:
	are committing 20 per cent. of the carers grant for children's services, including young carers, which will include helping young carers to have a break.
	are supporting the development of over 100 young carer projects across the country where young carers can go for advice, information and support or leisure.
	are funding Youth Clubs UK to raise awareness of young carers and their needs among youth workers and others working with young people.
	issued guidance on supporting young carers in schools in July 1999. It requires councils to identify children with additional family burdens and to provide services
	that are geared to ensure these children's education and general developments do not suffer.
	funded The Children's Society to take forward The Young Carers Initiative, which consulted with young carers and disseminated relevant information to local authorities and voluntary sector groups who work with young carers.

Children's Care

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to provide assistance to parents with mental health difficulties to engage with their children; and if he will make a statement on the role of health visitors in this.

Jacqui Smith: The mental health national service framework (NSF) and the NHS Plan require mental health services to work beyond the individual level into the family. The mental health NSF sets out how modern mental health services will be delivered. Services will be much more accessible; intervene more quickly to offer help and support; seek out those who are difficult to engage; involve users and carers in planning developments; use effective care processes and be delivered in partnership across health and social care as well as other key agencies.
	The process of the care programme approach (CPA) is intended to deliver care to meet the individual needs of service users. It should also address an individual's needs if they have parenting responsibilities. The CPA should take account of the needs of children and carers of people with mental health problems, and must comply with the Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995 and the NSF standard on caring for carers.
	A three year national development programme is supporting health visitors in tackling health prioritiesincluding mental healthand in targeting vulnerable families such as those experiencing mental health problems. Standards for health visitor education and training courses explicitly include promotion of psychological well being. It is for primary care trusts and the work force development confederation to determine additional training required to meet local health needs. In many areas health visitors will have to undergo additional training in family support and assessment and support of mothers experiencing post-natal depression.

Children's Care

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are in place to ensure that all employees who work with children have the necessary qualifications and training; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: The national minimum standards for children's homes that the National Care Standards Commission is using to regulate services include standards on training and qualifications. These start with the induction training that new members of care staff should have within six weeks of joining the home. They also state that 80 per cent. of all care staff should have completed their Level 3 Caring for Children and Young People National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) by January 2005. The standards also state that the registered manager of a children's home must have either a Care NVQ Level 4 or the Diploma in Social Work (or an equivalent qualification) by January 2005.
	Funds are available through the Training Support Programme Grant, the Training Strategy Implementation Fund and the new National Training Strategy Grant to enable child care staff working in any setting to undertake the above qualifications. For 200304, the National Training Strategy Grant includes 17.8 million to support social care employers in meeting the training and qualification requirements in the national minimum standards.
	Funds are also available through the Training Support Programme Grant to support social workers who undertake the post qualifying child care award. This award has been developed specifically to give those social workers who work with children and families the required level of knowledge, understanding and skills to carry out the full range of duties in contemporary children's personal social services. There is a target of 7,000 social workers to be trained in the award by 2006.

Children's Care

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures have been taken since 1997 to improve (a) pre- and (b) post-natal care; how many mid-wives have been in employment in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: The Government have pursued a programme of work for continuous improvement of antenatal and post-natal care since 1997. For example, the Department of Health is currently developing a maternity module of the children's national service framework (NSF), with two sub groups specifically looking at standards to improve antenatal and post-natal care.
	The Department commissioned the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) to produce two crucial sets of guidelines, the use of electronic fetal monitoring and induction of labour, designed to minimise the risk of damage to babies during birth.
	Further sets of guidelines to improve maternity services are being developed by NICE. These are clinical guidelines for routine antenatal care, clinical guidelines for intrapartum care (birth) and clinical guidelines for the management of the post natal period. The NICE guidelines will play an integral part in helping shape future service delivery.
	The Department commissioned a survey of caesarean sections. The report of this National Sentinel Audit of caesarean sections was published in October 2001 and has been referred to NICE in order that national guidelines on the use of caesarean sections can be developed.
	In 2001, an extra 100 million capital investment was announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, to be allocated over two years (200102 and 200203) to fund improvements in the country's maternity units. This new investment was an important opportunity to modernise facilities and improve the environment in which care is provided. Over 200 maternity units across England received a share of this investment.
	The United Kingdom National Screening Committee is taking steps to ensure that, in line with the NHS Plan commitment, there are effective appropriate screening programmes for women by 2004 to reduce inequalities and improve standards.
	Under the NHS Plan, there is a commitment for 'increased support for breastfeeding'. Through the NHS Priorities and Planning Framework 200306, a target has been set to increase breastfeeding initiation rates by two percentage points per year, focusing especially on women from disadvantaged groups. Since 1999, the Department has undertaken a range of activities to support and promote breastfeeding. This work will be further developed in the context of the children's NSF.
	The Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths continues to be a vital tool in improving the care that pregnant and recently delivered women receive. The latest report, Why Mothers Die (199799), showed maternal death rates to be the lowest ever, reflecting improvements in the standard of care and the implementation of recommendations made in earlier reports. This report addresses for the first time the major issues of inequality and social exclusion. The findings are valuable for future policy development and will feed into the maternity module of the children's NSF.
	There are 700, or 3 per cent., more midwives working in the national health service today than there were in 1997.

Children's Care

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assistance is available to health visitors if they wish to seek additional postgraduate training in infant mental health.

Jacqui Smith: A three-year national development programme enables health visitors to be supported in tackling health priorities, including mental health, and in targeting vulnerable families such as those experiencing mental health problems. Standards for health visitor education and training courses explicitly include promotion of psychological well being. It is for primary care trusts and workforce development confederations to determine additional training required to meet local health needs. In many areas, health visitors will have undergone additional training in family support and assessment and support of mothers experiencing post-natal depression.

Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection will be able to levy a fee from (a) NHS hospital trusts, (b) NHS foundation trusts and (c) independent hospitals in relation to its reviews and investigations functions; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: The Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill allows for the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection (CHAI) to levy fees from National Health Service hospital trusts and foundation trusts where it carries out a review or investigation.
	Independent hospitals will continue to pay fees under the Care Standards Act, in respect of CHAI's regulatory activity.

Community Pharmacies

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many community pharmacies in (a) the Jarrow constituency, (b) south Tyneside, (c) the north-east and (d) England were (i) closed and (ii) opened in each year since 1997.

David Lammy: The tables give the available information on the number of pharmacies opening and closing for the six years to 31 March 2002. Such information for the constituency of Jarrow is not held centrally.
	
		Gateshead and South Tyneside health authority
		
			 Year ending 31 March Number of NHS pharmacies opening Number of NHS pharmacies closing 
		
		
			 1997 1 0 
			 1998 0 0 
			 1999 0 0 
			 2000 1 0 
			 2001 0 0 
			 2002 0 1 
		
	
	
		North East England
		
			 Year ending 31 March Number of NHS pharmacies opening Number of NHS pharmacies closing 
		
		
			 1997 3 0 
			 1998 2 2 
			 1999 3 3 
			 2000 2 0 
			 2001 0 3 
			 2002 2 1 
		
	
	
		
			 Year ending 31 March Number of NHS pharmacies opening Number of NHS pharmacies closing 
		
		
			 1997 63 49 
			 1998 46 42 
			 1999 46 51 
			 2000 24 33 
			 2001 36 37 
			 2002 28 33

Community Pharmacies

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many community pharmacies have (a) opened and (b) closed in each of the past five years.

David Lammy: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave my hon. Friend, the Member for Jarrow (Mr. Hepburn) today.

Community Pharmacies

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many community pharmacies in (a) the Hemsworth constituency and (b) England were (i) closed and (ii) opened in each year since 1997.

David Lammy: The information requested for the constituency of Hemsworth is not held centrally. For information on England, I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave my hon. Friend, the Member for Jarrow (Mr. Hepburn) today.

Congestion Charge

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether there has been a change to the rate of resignations among staff at hospitals and other NHS facilities within the London congestion charging area since its introduction.

John Hutton: The Department does not collect this information.

Correspondence

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will reply to the letter dated 28 October 2002 from the hon. Member for Blackpool, South on behalf of Mr. FW about planning issues (regulatory reform-care services), transferred to his Department by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on 11 November 2002, ref LR/031546/02.

Jacqui Smith: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 11 April.

Correspondence

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when his Department will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Witney on behalf of Alison Richards, a constituent, on 17 February.

Jacqui Smith: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 28 April.

Coughlan Judgment

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the findings and data he has received from strategic health authorities in respect of their audits of past and current compliance with the Coughlan judgment and departmental guidance.

Jacqui Smith: Strategic health authorities have considered whether continuing care criteria in use in their area since 1996 were consistent with the Coughlan judgment. Some are taking further legal advice and will be reporting on this to the Department of Health by the end of May.

Dentists

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much dentists are paid for each type of procedure they carry out; what plans he has to change the level of charges; and which categories of people are exempt from NHS dentist charges.

David Lammy: For dentists in the general dental service, the fees are set out in the Statement of Dental Remuneration (SDR). This is available in the Library and on the Department of Health'swebsite at www.doh.qov.uk/sdr/. The patient charges are also shown; for most treatments, the patient charge is 80 per cent, of the dentist fee, subject to a maximum charge. The maximum charge for dental treatment or appliance provided on or from 1 April 2003 is 372.
	The fees contained in the Statement of Dental Remuneration are regularly updated, basedon the recommendations of the Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body (DDRB). Final fees for200304 will be set when the DDRB has completed its current review and the Government has considered its recommendations. Patient charges based on the new fee rates will apply from the date of publication of the new SDR.
	People in the following groups are exempt from dental charges:
	Aged under 18
	Aged under 19 in full time education
	Expectant mothers
	Women who have had a baby in the last 12 months
	In addition, the following groups have their dental charges remitted:
	Those receiving income support, and their partners
	Holders of an NHS low income scheme HC2 certificate
	Holders of an NHS low income scheme HC3 certificate (partially remitted only)
	Those receiving job seekers allowance, and their partners
	Those receiving child tax credit, and their partners
	Those receiving working tax credit, and their partners

Dual Diagnosis

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to her answer of 8 April 2003, Official Report, column 236W, on dual diagnosis, what other categories of dual diagnosis have had detailed guidance for treatment published; what resources are allocated to these and the drug misuse proposed treatments; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: The Dual Diagnosis Good Practice Guide (2002) provides guidance on services for people with a diagnosis of severe mental illness and substance misuse.
	Models of Care (2002) sets out a national framework for the commissioning of an integrated drug treatment system for adult drug misusers in England. It includes detailed guidance on provision of services for psychiatric co-morbidity. It also describes the evidence to support appropriate approaches to assessment, risk assessment, treatment and care planning to inform commissioning of service provision for adults with concurrent substance misuse and severe as well as common mental health problems or personality disorders.
	Funding for commissioning services for people with a dual diagnosis is provided from mainstream national health service budgets and from the pool treatment budget, a fund that is used specifically for commissioning drug services. In 200304, the money available is 236.1 million, which represents a 23 per cent. increase over the previous year.
	The implementation of the dual diagnosis good practice guidance is being supported as part of a comprehensive programme of work in the National Institute for Mental Health in England with a budget of 400,000 for 200304.
	In addition, policy and good practice guidance has been produced for the provision of services for people with learning disabilities, personality disorders and deaf people with mental health problems.

Employment Relations Act

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff in his Department have taken time off from work in order to attend to domestic incidents as provided for by the Employment Relations Act 1999.

David Lammy: The information required is not held centrally. Responsibility for authorising and monitoring such leave is devolved to individual management units and is treated as a personal issue between line management and staff.
	The right to time off is contained in section 57A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 as amended by the Employment Relations Act 1999. The section came into effect on 15 December 1999. The right to time off is available to all those who have a contract of employment with an employer, whether they work full or part time.
	Special leave policy rests with individual departments and agencies, who are free to decide on the amounts of special leave and the circumstances for which it is granted, including whether such leave is paid or unpaid.

Eye Care

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many eye specialists there are in the UK; what their salary rates are; and what proposals he has to increase their number.

David Lammy: At March 2002 there were 687 consultants in ophthalmology in England.
	As at 30 September 2001 there were 359 registrars for ophthalmology in the national health service in England. The output from these existing registrar training places, together with other increases through improved recruitment and retention, international recruitment and promotion of flexible retirement after allowing for expected retirements in the specialty is expected to result in around 821 trained specialists being available in ophthalmology by 2004.
	In addition, since last year, trusts have been given the flexibility to fund additional specialist registrar posts where they choose to do so, up to a maximum in each specialty. This is enabling trusts to build a workforce capable of meeting local demand and improve the delivery of patient care. In 200304 this could amount to an additional 40 training opportunities nationally in ophthalmology.
	The current salary range for consultants is 52,640 to 68,505. Decisions on the level of remuneration for 200304 will be taken in the light of the report from the Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body when this is available. In addition, consultants can also receive consolidated pay through two other sources. These are discretionary points from their employers for above average contribution to local NHS services, or distinction awards for contributions to the wider NHS at regional, national or international level.

Eye Care

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money has been spent on research on eye conditions since 1997; and if he will make a statement on the progress made.

David Lammy: The main Government agency into the causes and treatments of disease is the Medical Research Council (MRC), which receives its funding from the Department of Trade and Industry via the Office of Science and Technology. Between 199798 and 200102, the MRC spent a total of 24.4 million on research into vision. This research was into eye function and eye disorders, the causes of visual defects including blindness, short-sightedness, long-sightedness, and squints; reduced visual field; cataracts and glaucoma; retinal disease such as macular degeneration and problems with eye movement control.
	As an example of progress made, the gene that controls development of the eye has been found by researchers at the MRC's human genetics unit. Mutations in a gene called SOX2 have been identified as one of the causes of babies born without eyes. Identifying very rare disease-associated genes provides an important stepping stone to understanding the biological networks involved in other, sometimes more common, related diseases. The research team has explored the role of SOX2 in the development and the adult maintenance of the lens and the retina. Genes that regulate eye development also play a role in eye maintenance after birth, so understanding their function may help in the management of later onset sight problems such as macular degeneration, cataracts and glaucoma.
	The Department funds research to support policy and delivery of effective health and social care. The Department and the Chief Scientist's Office, Scotland, together spent about 2million on projects covering a wide range of eye conditions. The Department has asked the national Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) to conduct an appraisal of photodynamic therapy for age-related macular degeneration and provide guidance on its use on the National Health Service. NICE has not yet issued any guidance to the NHS on this.

Eye Care

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with organisations which assist those with sight loss.

Jacqui Smith: There have been two meetings between Department of Health Ministers and organisations interested in sight loss in the past six months. On 4 October 2002, the then Under-Secretary of State, my noble Friend the Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, met Mary Bairstow, an optometrist working with the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) on low vision services. On 21 February 2003, my right hon. Friend, the Minister of State (John Hutton) opened a low vision centre at the headquarters of the Royal National Institute for the Blind in London.

Eye Care

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Department has to reduce availability of eye tests for children through school medical services.

David Lammy: holding answer 14 April 2003
	The United Kingdom National Screening Committee is currently considering the role of routine vision screening in schools and I look forward to receiving the Committee's views in due course. In the meantime, there are no plans to reduce eye tests undertaken at school.

Foundation Hospitals

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how he will compensate the central NHS funding pool for the loss of the value of assets sold for their own use by foundation hospitals.

John Hutton: The establishment of National Health Service foundation trusts will not reduce the amount of capital available for developing NHS services for NHS patients, so no compensation will be necessary.

General Practice

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the population in England are registered with a GP.

John Hutton: At 30 September 2001, the latest published data, 51,249,672 people were recorded asregistered with a general practitioner or with a provider of personal medical services in England. However, it is not possible to express this accurately as a percentage of the population because of list inflation''. This arises where a patient moves his or her registration and for a transitional period may be registered on two lists. Similarly, an individual who dies or moves outside England may remain on a list for a time.

General Practice

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed GP contract on the confidentiality of patient records; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: Everyone working in the national health service, in any capacity, has a contractual obligation to respect and protect patient confidentiality. Clinicians are additionally bound by professional obligations. Nothing in the proposed new contract for general medical services will change this.

General Practice

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on access rights to the contracts containing the terms and conditions of individual GPs.

John Hutton: The new contract for general medical services negotiated between the General Practitioners Committee of the British Medical Association and the NHS Confederation is now with the profession for their consideration.
	Under the new contract details of financial transaction between the national health service and practices will remain confidential, but patients will have a new Patient Services Guarantee (by which patients are assured that they will continue to be offered at least the range of services that they currently enjoy), and a Practice Leaflet including the services available and how to obtain them, patients' rights and responsibilities, opening hours and appointments systems and other essential information.

Haemophilia

Diana Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many haemophilia patients there are in England.

Hazel Blears: Figures from the United Kingdom Haemophilia Centre Doctors Organisation indicate that there are 5,804 haemophilia patients in England.

Haemophilia

Diana Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many suppliers of recombinant clotting factor for haemophilia patients there are in the UK.

Hazel Blears: There are five global companies which supply recombinant clotting factor products to the national health service in England. The companies are Bayer PLC, Wyeth/Genetics Institute, Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Novo Nordisk Limited and Aventis Behring.

Health Care Criteria

Edward O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which strategic health authorities have found that the local NHS continuing health care criteria used at some point since 1996 in each of their areas has not complied with (a) NHS continuing health care guidance and (b) the Coughlan judgment.

Jacqui Smith: Strategic health authorities have considered whether continuing care criteria in use in their area since 1996 were consistent with the Coughlan judgment. Some are taking further legal advice and will be reporting on this to the Department of Health by the end of May.

Health Care Criteria

Edward O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people each strategic health authority estimates have been wrongly assessed under local eligibility criteria that did not comply with the Coughlan judgment and have therefore had their care paid by themselves or social services.

Jacqui Smith: Strategic health authorities will report to the Department by the end of May with an estimate.

Health Professionals (Salaries)

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the salary is of (a) health visitors and (b) midwives; by how much this has changed since 1997; and what plans he has to increase this further.

John Hutton: Nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff directly employed in the National Health Service have their pay determined by an independent pay review body. The Government has accepted in full and implemented the recommendations on pay for the last four years.
	Midwives and health visitors are currently paid in accordance with the nationally agreed clinical grading structure. Newly qualified midwives enter at scale E with a 200203 salary range of 17,105 to 23,690. The minimum for health visitors is scale G with a 200203 salary range of 22,385 to 26,340. Full details of the current salary scales are contained in Advance Letter (NM) 1/2002. Copies are available in the Library.
	Pay has increased across the board for all midwives and health visitors directly employed in the NHS in England by at least 26 per cent in cash terms since 1997.
	A proposed agreement on pay modernisation for NHS non medical staff, Agenda for Change, was published on 3 March. NHS staff organisations are currently consulting their members on the proposed agreement.
	The information in this answer relates to England only. Pay for midwives and health visitors in Scotland and Wales is a matter for the devolved administrations. Whilst the institutions in Northern Ireland are dissolved, responsibility rests with Ministers in the Northern Ireland Office.

Health Protection Agency

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) budget, (b) staffing levels and (c) aims have been set for the Health Protection Agency; and what percentage of the Health Protection Agency's budget will be dedicated to bio-defence.

Hazel Blears: The details of the budget distribution between the various activities of the Health Protection Agency (HPA) are currently being considered by the HPA Board and it is not possible to say what percentage will be dedicated to bio-defence.
	The fine details of the budget allocation from the Department of Health are still being finalised but we expect it to be in the region of 112 million. Added to this will be contractsfrom both the private and public sectorsto the value of around 70 million.
	The HPA has a staffing establishment of 2,516.
	The functions of the HPA as set out in the Directions from the Secretary of State are:
	(a) to advise the Secretary of State, National Health Service bodies and such other persons or bodies as the HPA sees fit on matters relating to health protection and health emergency planning;
	(b) to conduct surveillance, and develop and improve existing systems of surveillance, of infectious disease and chemical and radiation hazards; (c) to co-ordinate data from systems of surveillance relevant to the protection of public health;
	(d) to support primary care trusts in the discharge of their functions of:
	(i) providing a health protection service (including investigation and management of outbreaks of infectious disease and chemical and radiation hazards and incidents);
	(ii) carrying out health emergency planning; and
	(iii) providing clinical care for patients who have, or may have, taken toxic substances;
	(e) to provide the following services:
	(i) specialist public health and reference microbiology services including food, water and environmental microbiology for local authorities;
	(ii) designating yellow fever vaccination centres for the purpose of complying with the World Health Organisation's International Health Regulations; and
	(iii) advising and supporting the Department of Health's regional directors of public health in their task of ensuring that effective health protection and health emergency planning systems are maintained and developed in their regions; and
	(f) to provide such clinical microbiology services as the Secretary of State requests.
	Its aims and targets in fulfilling these functions will be detailed in its business and corporate plans, which are currently being finalised.

Human Tissue Typing

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether human tissue typing is available in England.

David Lammy: Tissue typing is a method of identifying a person's tissue type and is important to some forms of organ transplantation. Human tissue typing has been available in England since the late 1960s.

Intensive Care

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on how the money to improve intensive care services announced in September 2002 has been spent.

Jacqui Smith: Since 1997 we have steadily increased investment in the improvement of paediatric intensive care services. The announcement in September of an extra 10 million increased these additional funds to a total of 25 million, now available annually. The funding has been spent on capacity building for lead centres providing intensive care to the most critically ill children, ensuring greater access to these centres and to local high dependency care for children recovering from serious illness.

Iraq (Casualties)

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment his Department has made of the impact of casualties from the war in Iraq upon the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: The National Health Service has a responsibility for treating any military patients brought back to the United Kingdom. All trusts have effective contingency plans in place to ensure NHS services are not affected.

Laser Eye Surgery

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what information he has collated on the success rate of (a) Lasik and (b) other laser eye surgery procedures;
	(2)  what plans he has (a) to regulate providers of laser eye surgery treatments and (b) to record individual surgeons' success rates and history;
	(3)  what measures are in place to ensure that people offering laser eye surgery are adequately qualified and to require them to inform patients of possible side-effects of any treatment.

David Lammy: Establishments where Class 4 laser treatment is provided are required to be registered with the National Care Standards Commission as independent hospitals, under the Care Standards Act 2000 and must comply with the Private and Voluntary Health Care Regulations. Regulation 42(1) requires that the registered person has in place a professional protocol drawn up by a trained and experienced medical practitioner or dentist from the relevant discipline in which treatment is to be provided.
	Providers are also required to meet two sets of national minimum standardscore standards and service-specific standards. The core standards apply to all health care providers and include standards on the information that must be provided for patients. The provider must make available to prospective patients a patient's guide, reviewed annually, expressed in clear, relevant language and in a format suitable for the patient profile with regard to language and sensory or learning disabilities. The information provided must be accurate, not misleading and any claims made must be justified.
	The standards specific to laser treatment set out in detail all the issues to be addressed by the professional protocol and mandatory written policies and procedures, including the operator's responsibilities, technique, biological effects of treatment, procedures, qualifications, training, access, environment, maintenance, management, safety, adverse incidents, hazards, contra-indications, pre-treatment tests, post-treatment care and records.
	The vast majority of laser eye surgery takes place in private practice. The Department of Health does not collect information about such procedures by individual surgeons.

Lay Assessors

Richard Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many lay assessors to the Social Services Inspectorate were in place in March 2002; how many are working now; and which local authorities use them.

Jacqui Smith: In March 2002, the Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) had a pool of 84 trained lay assessors available for deployment in appropriate inspections. In March 2003, the number was 77. Local authorities do not themselves use these lay assessors; they are deployed by the SSI, with the agreement of the local authority being inspected.

Long-term Care

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when his Department will issue guidance to (a) primary care trusts, (b) strategic health authorities and (c) local councils on how to respond to the Health Ombudsman's report on NHS funding for long term care.

Jacqui Smith: The Government are already working with the national health service and local authorities to respond to the Ombudsman's report on NHS funding for long-term care and ascertain the numbers of people who may have been wrongly assessed under criteria not consistent with the Coughlan judgment.
	The Government will review the national guidance on continuing care carefully and once this process is complete decide whether further action is necessary.

Matrons

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what procedures have been put in place to ensure that the funding allocated for modern matrons cannot be used for other purposes;
	(2)  to which budget holders the additional funding allocated to modern matrons will be distributed;
	(3)  when modern matrons will receive the additional funding announced by the Government;
	(4)  for how many financial years the new payments to modern matrons will be paid.

David Lammy: The details of the fund are currently being finalised. We will issue the funding shortly and it will be accompanied by clear guidance setting out the options of how to spend the money on improving the patient experience in accident and emergency. Modern matrons will take the lead in deciding, in consultation with colleagues and patients, on which option to choose.

Medical Records

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been taken to ensure that medical practitioners in the UK have speedy access to medical records of new patients who are from overseas outside the UK, but within the EU; and what discussions have been held with the Home Office to minimise delay in obtaining such records, particularly in cases where there are serious mental health problems and illnesses.

David Lammy: Under European Data Protection legislation, United Kingdom medical practitioners have no right to request access to medical records from non-UK administrations. Where treating clinicians are aware of a previous medical history, they can only request it with the patient's authorisation.
	There have been no discussions with the Home Office on this subject.

Mental Health Services

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when mental health service improvements announced in the National Service Framework for Mental Health and the NHS plan in respect of (a) crisis teams, (b) assertive outreach programmes, (c) home treatment, (d) early intervention in psychosis and (e) primary care mental health teams will be launched in Shrewsbury and Atcham.

David Lammy: Shropshire County Primary Care Trust is developing crisis resolution, early interventions in psychosis and home treatment services in 2003. The Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency already has an assertive outreach team and several primary care teams locally have specific mental health services, such as psychologists, counsellors and cognitive behavioural therapists. Primary care also has access to specialist counselling agencies such as Confide and Axis.

Mental Health Services

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time to see a consultant psychiatrist was in (a) England and Wales, (b) each county, (c) each primary care trust and (d) each health authority in each of the last three years.

John Hutton: Information is collected centrally on waiting times to see a consultant psychiatrist. The information is collected by consultant's main specialty and includes the specialties mental handicap, mental illness, child and adolescent psychiatry, forensic psychiatry, psychotherapy and old age psychiatry. Information is collected for England only and can be broken down by health authority and primary care trust, but not by county. These data are available at www.doh.gov.uk/waitingtimes/ and give a breakdown of waiting time-bands.
	The table shows the median waiting time for patients waiting to see a consultant as an out-patient first attendance or an elective in-patient admission. Data for England was sufficiently large enough to give a reliable estimate, but the numbers for health authorities and primary care trusts were too small to give reliable estimates of the median for these levels of organisations.
	Between March 2001 and March 2002, the number of people waiting over 26 weeks for their first out-patient appointment for the above specialties fell from 400 at end March 2002 to less than 20 at end March 2002 and less than 10 at end December 2002.
	Over the same period and for the same specialties, the number of people waiting over six months for in-patient admission has fallen to less than 10 at end December 2002.
	
		Median waiting times in weeks: psychiatric specialties
		
			  200001 200102 200203 
		
		
			 In-patients
			 England at 31 December 7.9 8.9 8.7 
			 Out-patients
			 England: Financial year 3.7 3.9 3.9 
		
	
	Note:
	20023 for out-patients is only for three Quarters
	Sources:
	In-patients: Department of Health form QF01
	Out-patients: Department of Health form QM08R

Neonatal Care

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many neonatal nurses there are; how many are nearing retirement; and what is being done to tackle staff shortage.

John Hutton: The Department's workforce census collects data about numbers of paediatric nurses and this includes neonatal nurses and other nurses involved in the care of children. As at 30 September 2001, there were 17,640 paediatric nurses working in the national health service in England, of which 1,924 were aged 50 years or over. Separate information is not collected centrally on the number of neonatal nurses employed in the NHS, nor is information on the number nearing retirement.
	The Government are committed to increasing the overall nursing workforce, from which neonatal nurses can be drawn, as at March 2002 there were an estimated 28,740 more nurses employed in the NHS than in 1999.
	The Review of Neonatal Intensive Care Services, published for consultation on 10 April 2003, offers a blueprint for moving to a modernised service through the formation of clinical networks and addressing recruitment, retention and skills issues.
	The Department recognises the need to focus on developing the neonatal nursing workforce. We have in place successful initiatives to recruit and retain the nursing workforce and a professional lead has recently been appointed to work on the recruitment and retention strategy for neonatal nurses.

NHS Car Parks

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what central guidance is issued for the level of car parking charges at NHS hospitals.

John Hutton: Central guidance on car parking charges was issued to national health service hospitals in March 1996. It is a matter for individual hospitals to decide whether or not to charge for car parking and the cost of such charges in the light of local circumstances. Where charges are introduced, patients who are eligible to claim reimbursement of travelling expenses under the Hospital Travel Costs Scheme may have the charges reimbursed.

NHS Complaints

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has published the results of his review on the NHS complaints procedure; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: We published NHS complaints reformMaking things right, on Friday 28 March. It describes reforms to the national health service complaints procedure and sets out a programme to improve management of the whole complaints system, elements of which will be subject to the passage of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill.
	The programme builds on the existing NHS complaint procedure, as well as wider initiatives, to introduce operational improvements focused on:
	Making the system more flexible so that there are a range of ways in which people can express concerns about the services they have received
	Improving the local resolution stage so that formal complaints are more likely to be resolved, reducing the need for them to escalate unnecessarily
	Radical reform to the independent review stage, subject to primary legislationby placing responsibility for it with the new Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection
	Making sure information about complaints and their causes are an integral part of the system that assures safe, high quality care, which is constantly improving.

NHS Inspection Staff

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) staff and (b) staff engaged in inspection work have been employed by (i) the Commission for Health Improvement, (ii) the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, (iii) the National Care Standards Commission and (iv) the Social Services Inspectorate in each year since 1997.

John Hutton: The information requested is as follows:
	The Commission for Health Improvement (CHD):
	The CHI came into being on 1 November 1999 and began to conduct a rolling programme of clinical governance reviews in 2001. The number of staff and number of staff engaged in inspection work in each year since 1999 is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Year Staff employed Staff engaged in inspection work 
		
		
			 19992000 111 15 
			 200001 248 44 
			 200102 330 50 
			 200203 334 51 
		
	
	The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE):
	The NICE was established in April 1999. It is a special health authority, set up to give advice on best clinical practice to National Health Service clinicians, to those commissioning NHS services and to patients and carers. None of NICE's staff are involved in inspection work. The number of staff is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Year Staff employed Staff engaged in inspection work 
		
		
			 19992000 17 Not applicable   
			 200001 32 Not applicable   
			 200102 40 Not applicable   
			 200203 59 Not applicable   
		
	
	The National Care Standards Commission (NCSO):
	The NCSC became fully operational on 1 April 2002. It is responsible for registration and inspection of health and social care services in England. The number of staff and number of staff engaged in inspection work in each year since 2002 is shown in the table.
	
		
			 200203 Number 
		
		
			 Staff employed 2,285 
			 Staff engaged in inspection work 1,350 
		
	
	The Social Services Inspectorate (SSI):
	The SSI is a division of the Department of Health. The structure and functions of both the Department and the SSI have changed over the period covered in the following table. The SSI inspects councils with social services responsibilities in England and from this and other evidence, it assesses and reports on councils' performance, and where necessary makes recommendations for improvement. The number of staff and the number of staff engaged in inspection work, in each year is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Year Staff employed Staff engaged in inspection work 
		
		
			 199798 156 92 
			 199899 156 91 
			 19992000 156 91 
			 200001 198 108 
			 200102 229 127 
			 200203 236 120 
		
	
	The number of SSI staff involved with inspection reduced in 200203 because inspections of voluntary children's homes transferred from the SSI to the NCSC. SSI took on additional non-inspection work relating to the star ratings of local councils with social services responsibilities and contributing to the comprehensive performance assessments of councils. The SSI continued its programme of children's service inspections during 200203. The additional work following the publication of the Victoria Climbie Inquiry report at the end of January 2003 will impact on the SSI's workload in 200304.

NHS Operations

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether current employment arrangements in the NHS provide for breaks for non-medical staff involved in providing support to operating theatre teams to be taken during operating time.

John Hutton: It is the responsibility of National Health Service employers to adhere to the requirements of the Working Time Regulations, which provides for rest breaks.
	General guidance (HSC 1998/204) was issued to employers on the implementation of the Regulations in the NHS.
	The aim is to provide quality patient care by ensuring minimum standards of rest for all staff in the NHS.

NHS Prescriptions (Fraud)

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of fraud in relation to NHS prescribing and NHS prescription charges in the last 12 months.

David Lammy: The National Health Service Counter Fraud and Security Management Service (NHS CFSMS) has an on-going programme of highly accurate risk measurement exercises (accurate to plus or minus one per cent.) designed to reveal levels of losses and, through repeated exercises, reduction in such losses. Phase one of these exercises included patient prescription charge evasion fraud. The information is shown in the table.
	
		Pharmaceutical patient fraud --  million
		
			 Year data selected Fraud losses 
		
		
			 199899 117 
			 19992000 69 
		
	
	A statistically valid sample of those prescriptions prescribed during March 2003 is being taken for a further measurement exercise to be conducted. Further fraud reductions are anticipated and the figures will be produced later this year.
	Phase two of the programme will focus on contractor fraud within the NHS. As the measurement programme extends, it will enable NHS CFSMS to accurately assess the totality of NHS fraud.

NHS Services (Durham)

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will list the individuals appointed to NHS trusts who live in the North Durham constituency;
	(2)  if he will list the individuals appointed to NHS trusts and primary care trusts in Durham who have neither previously served on NHS trust boards nor held any other public appointment.

David Lammy: The following individuals, who live in the North Durham parliamentary constituency, are currently serving on national health service boards:
	Rachel Burton (non-executive, Durham and Chester-le-Street Primary Care Trust)
	Thomas Conery (non-executive, North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust)
	Brian Ebbatson (non-executive, Durham and Chester-le-Street Primary Care Trust)
	Vera McEwan (Chair, Gateshead Primary Care Trust)
	Keith Murray-Hetherington (Chair, Derwentside Primary Care Trust)
	Heather Scott (non-executive, Durham and Chester-le-Street Primary Care Trust)
	Peter Smith (Chair, Gateshead Health NHS Trust)
	The following individuals are currently appointed to NHS trusts and PCTs in Durham and have neither previously served on a NHS trust board or held any other public appointment:
	Rachel Burton (non-executive, Durham and Chester-le-Street Primary Care Trust)
	John Dixon (non-executive, County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals NHS Trust)
	Kathleen Duggan (non-executive, Derwentside Primary Care Trust)
	Andrew Gray (non-executive, Durham and Chester-le-Street Primary Care Trust)
	John Griffiths (non-executive, County Durham and Darlington Priority Services NHS Trust
	David Hall (non-executive, County Durham and Darlington Priority Services NHS Trust)
	Judith Lund (non-executive, Derwentside Primary Care Trust)
	Collette O'Byrne (non-executive, Derwentside Primary Care Trust)
	James Owens (non-executive, Derwentside Primary Care Trust)
	Heather Scott (non-executive, Durham and Chester-le-Street Primary Care Trust)
	Paul Taylor (non-executive, Durham Dales Primary Care Trust)
	Karen Veitch (non-executive, Durham Dales Primary Care Trust)
	Wendy Westmorland (non-executive, Easington Primary Care Trust)
	Penelope Young (Chair, Easington Primary Care Trust)

NHS Treatments

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of (a) cancer patients and (b) heart disease patients were successfully treated in (i) the London borough of Havering, (ii) other London boroughs and (iii) the County of Essex in the last three years.

John Hutton: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Nursing Care Fees

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of nursing homes failing to pass on the free nursing care contribution to former preserved rights residents.

Jacqui Smith: The nursing care of former preserved rights residents of care homes, as for other residents supported by councils, only became the responsibility of the national health service from 1 April 2003. These residents are placed under contracts made by councils and the NHS.
	They are not charged directly by providers for the nursing care that they receive. There is therefore no need for providers to pass on any contribution to them.

Nursing Care Fees

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 7 April 2003, Official Report, column 96W, on care homes, whether the care home providers the Minister wrote to (a) passed the contribution on to residents and (b) reduced their fees according to the banding that residents were placed in.

Jacqui Smith: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to him on 25 April 2002, Official Report, column 457W. It should not be assumed that all the providers who were written to had, in every case, failed to pass on any financial benefit arising from the national health service funding part of their care.

Nursing Care Payments

Edward O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what alterations the Government plans to make to example 4 in the NHS funded nursing care practice guidance and workbook used by nurses in making their determinations about the correct band of NHS payment towards nursing care, in response to case E 420/0001 ('Mrs. N') in the Health Ombudsman's recent report, NHS funding for long term care;
	(2)  what alterations will be made to the criteria used by nurses in their determinations in relation to (a) the higher band and (b) the middle band of NHS payment towards nursing care in the relevant guidance (HSC 2001/17) in order to ensure that they do not impose a higher test for nursing care payments than the Court of Appeal indicated in the Coughlan case was required for NHS continuing care.

Jacqui Smith: The case studies that are set out in the Practice Guide and Workbook assume that a continuing care assessment has already been carried out. These are fictional examples that do not identify needs for other therapeutic or medical input. It is therefore not meaningful to compare these to cases identified in the Ombudsman's report, and I do not consider that there is any need to amend either the guidance or the guide.
	The recently issued guidance on NHS Funded Nursing Care (HSC 2003/6: LAC (2003)7) emphasised the distinction between National Health Service funded nursing care and NHS continuing healthcare very clearly. It stresses that all the individual's needs for medical and nursing care, as well as therapeutic and personal care, should be examined. Based on this examination, it highlights the need in every case to consider whether the person meets the criteria for fully funded NHS healthcare, before there is any consideration of NHS funded nursing care as part of a mixed package of care.

Osteoporosis

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on progress made by the NHS in tackling osteoporosis since the publication of the Green Paper, Our Healthier Nation.

Jacqui Smith: Since the publication of the Green Paper in February 1998, a number of steps have been taken to tackle osteoporosis. In June 1998, we launched a strategy aimed at reducing the number of fractures caused by osteoporosis. The strategy is evidence-based; prioritises treatment for those at higher risk of developing the disease; is easily accessible and encourages people to think about how they can play a part in preventing fractures and accidents and ultimately to prevent osteoporosis. Health authorities were recommended to use the strategy as a basis for developing their own local strategies.
	Osteoporosis has been included in the falls standard of the national service framework (NSF) for older people. This standard requires each local health system to have a falls service in place by April 2005. These services must include appropriate interventions and advice to prevent osteoporosis.
	We have asked the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) to undertake an appraisal of pharmacological treatments for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis with a view to giving doctors the latest evidence based information on the most effective treatments for their patients. NICE expects to publish towards the end of the year. NICE is also drawing up clinical guidelines for the prevention and treatment of this disease. Although the guidelines are being developed to support the NSF for older people, they will have an effect on the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis at all ages.
	Towards the end of 2002, we announced the first three pilot schemes for pre-retirement health checks for people approaching retirement, including one on osteoporosis. Pre-retirement is a good time to make people aware of lifestyle changes they can adopt to prevent the onset of this disease. These checks can also identify those in need of immediate treatment for established osteoporosis.

Overmedication (Older People)

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the overmedication of older people in NHS hospitals.

Jacqui Smith: No information is available at national level about overmedication in national health service hospitals. Implementation of the medicines management supplement of the older people's national service framework will ensure the best use of medicine for older people and will, therefore, prevent overmedication.

Parental Leave

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff in his Department have used their leave entitlement under the parental leave directive since it came into force.

David Lammy: The information requested is not held centrally. Responsibility for authorising and monitoring parental leave is devolved to individual management units and is treated as a personal issue between line management and staff.
	The Department is committed to supporting its staff to work flexibly around their family responsibilities and has a flexible working pattern policy. This benefits the Department, as parents are able to work in an organisation where they feel supported and are able to work flexibly around their family responsibilities.

Part-time Workers

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the impact of the part-time workers directive on staff in his Department.

David Lammy: The Department of Health is committed to work-life-balance for its staff and so offers a range of flexible working patterns and actively supports staff and managers who wish to work flexibly. Part-time working is one of the ways in which the Department offers its staff flexibility. Others are job sharing, home working and working compressed hours.
	As at 1 April 2003 there were 560 staff recorded as part time. This represents 11 per cent, of the total staff in post (4,933).

Patient Care (Inquiries)

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether it is his policy that no inquiries into failures in patient care can be initiated by his Department whilst legal action is pending from patients affected.

David Lammy: Inquiries set up by the Secretary of State for Health are usually in accordance with the provisions of section 2 or section 84 of the NHS Act 1977. There are no express restrictions on setting up inquiries under these sections while legal action is pending or taking place. These inquiries usually involve wider serious systemic service failures often involving a number of patients across a longer time frame. They are not normally regarded as the appropriate method for investigating an individual incident unless it is so serious as to have implications for National Health Service services more generally or raised health policy issues which have not been satisfactorily addressed before. These incidents are usually investigated under the NHS complaints procedure. Complaints made under the NHS complaints system will be suspended if the subject of the complaint and the case for legal action are the same.

Patient Transfers

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients in each regional health authority have been (a) transferred to a private hospital or other private medical centre and (b) transferred to have medical treatment abroad as a result of staff shortages following the deployment of medical staff to Iraq; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the health service of these transfers.

John Hutton: Information on the number of patients who have been treated in private hospitals or abroad rather than in National Health Service facilities as a result of staff shortages following the deployment of medical staff to Iraq has not been collected.
	The main impact has been at the five Ministry of Defence hospital units (MDHUs) and the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine at the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust. All these have lost significant numbers of regular service medical and nursing personnel to the conflict in the Gulf. The five MDHUs are based at the following NHS trusts:
	Peterborough Hospitals
	South Tees Hospitals
	Plymouth Hospitals
	Portsmouth Hospitals
	Frimley Park Hospital
	We have provided so far about 18 million to these hospitals to help offset the impact of deployments and maintain NHS work. As far as we are aware, no patients have been sent abroad as a result of reduced staffing because of conflict in the Gulf.
	Of this 18 million, five million is being used to pay for an overseas orthopaedic team to be based at Portsmouth Hospitals to treat about 1000 patients at Portsmouth, Frimley Park and Plymouth Hospitals.

Personal Medical Services Regulations

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received about the National Health Service (Out of Hours Provision of Personal Medical Services and Miscellaneous Amendments) (England) Regulations.

John Hutton: As part of the process for making these Regulations, the Department consulted key stakeholders on both the policy and on a draft of the Regulations themselves. Comments were received on the draft Regulations from the General Medical Practitioners Committee of the British Medical Association. Those comments were taken into account in finalising the Regulations, which were laid before the House on 10 January 2003.

Pharmacists

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many pharmacists will complete training in the current year; and how many have completed training in each of the past five years.

John Hutton: To qualify as a pharmacist students are required to gain a pharmacy degree, successfully complete a one-year period of pre-registration practice based training and pass the registration examination. In 2001, the most recent year for which collated information is available, the intake of new students to schools of pharmacy in Great Britain was 15 per cent. higher than in 1997. The numbers of pharmacy degrees awarded by those schools over the same period are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1997 1,268 
			 1998 1,369 
			 1999 1,567 
			 2000 322 
			 2001 1,239 
		
	
	The numbers of trainees passing the registration examination in the last five years are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1998 1,188 
			 1999 1,217 
			 2000 1,438 
			 2001 447 
			 2002 1,533 
		
	
	These figures include overseas pharmacists who have to pass the registration examination to register in Great Britain. The move from a three to a four-year degree in 1997 gave rise to low graduation numbers and registration examination passes in 2000 and 2001 respectively.
	This year, in 200203, there are 1,327 United Kingdom graduates undertaking their practice based pre-registration training in Great Britain.

Physiotherapy

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about the provision of physiotherapy services available on the NHS (a) nationally and (b) in Gloucestershire, with particular reference to (i) waiting times and (ii) the range of services available.

John Hutton: holding answer 1 April 2003
	Primary care trusts now have the responsibility of improving the health of the community, securing the provision of high quality services and integrating health and social care locally. They have the resources to commission services and to identify the number of professional staff that they need to deliver those services. This process provides the means for addressing local needs within the health community including the provision of physiotherapy services.

Prison Doctors

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prison doctors are suspended from duties.

Jacqui Smith: Decisions concerning suspension of doctors employed by the prison service are made locally by prison governors in accordance with prison service conduct and discipline procedures. Information on the number of prison doctors suspended from duties is not held centrally.

Prison Doctors

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prison doctors have been dismissed in the last five years.

Jacqui Smith: Two doctors have been dismissed from the prison service in the last five years.

Prison Doctors

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 3 March 2003, Official Report, column 890, on prison doctors, how many of those doctors not qualified to general practitioner level are working without appropriate supervision; what form supervision takes; and what guidance has been issued to prisons on the supervision of under-qualified doctors.

Jacqui Smith: There are 25 doctors who do not hold vocational training qualifications in the Prison Service, five of whom are in full-time training. Of the remaining 20, 10 are providing mental health services and 10 are working in primary care. One doctor has left the service since the answer provided on 3 March 2003.
	The form of supervision provided varies dependent on the individual's needs assessed in a number of ways including interviews with post-graduate deans and interviews with the medical director in prison health.
	Guidance on supervision has been issued to prisons in a number of forms, including the booklet 'Unlocking the Jargon' and direct communications from the medical director. Doctors have also been on mentorship training, have been provided with personal learning plans and will shortly be subject to appraisal equivalent to that introduced in the national health service for general practitioner principals. Further guidance on models of supervision is planned to be issued shortly.

Prisoners

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of prisoners (a) suffer from mental health problems, (b) smoke, (c) have taken illegal drugs, (d) have chronic pulmonary heart disease, (e) have coronary heart disease, and (f) have diabetes.

Jacqui Smith: A survey of psychiatric morbidity among prisoners in England and Wales, undertaken in 1997 by the Office for National Statistics, showed that around 90 per cent. of prisoners sampled displayed evidence of at least one of the five disorders, personality disorder, psychosis, neurosis, alcohol misuse and drug dependence, considered in the survey. The same study showed that 85 per cent. of men on remand, 78 per cent. of sentenced men, 83 per cent. of women on remand and 81 per cent. of sentenced women smoked. It also indicated that 85 per cent. of men on remand, 81 per cent. of sentenced men, 77 per cent. of women on remand and 69 per cent. of sentenced women had ever taken an illegal drug.
	No similarly wide-ranging studies have been undertaken to ascertain the prevalence of chronic pulmonary heart disease, coronary heart disease or diabetes among the prison population of England and Wales.

Prisoners

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prisoners who have been diagnosed with a functional psychosis are receiving treatment.

Jacqui Smith: Information is not collected centrally in the form requested. We estimate that around 5,000 prisoners at any one time suffer from a severe mental illness. Under NHS Plan commitments, by 2004 every prisoner with a severe mental illness will be in receipt of appropriate treatment.

Prisoners

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prisoners underwent a course of (a) methadone maintenance and (b) methadone reduction in the last year for which figures are available.

Jacqui Smith: Prison service establishments reported that 41,916 drug and alcohol detoxifications were carried out between 1 April 2001 and 31 March 2002. Information is not collected centrally on the number of uses of particular methods of clinical management of substance misusers in prisons.

Prisoners

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has commissioned into the public health risk posed by prisoners engaging in unprotected sex; and what discussions he has had with the Home Office on reducing this risk.

Jacqui Smith: The risks to individuals' and the public health from unprotected sex are already well understood by the prison service, which has already issued advice to prison doctors about the circumstances in which they should make condoms available to prisoners.

Prisons

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many mental health professionals are employed (a) full-time and (b) part-time in prisons in England and Wales.

Jacqui Smith: Detailed information on professional specialisation among healthcare professionals working in the prison service in England and Wales is not kept centrally.
	As of March 2003 there were 42 functioning national health service mental health in-reach teams, comprising over 155 staff, working with prisoners.

Prisons

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 7 April 2003, Official Report, column 110W, on prisons, if he will place a copy of the prison service standard for clinical services for substance misusers in the Library.

Jacqui Smith: Copies have been placed in the Library.

Property Portfolio

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the estimated value is of the property portfolio held by his Department.

John Hutton: I refer the hon. Member to the national asset register, published in April 2001. This lists the assets held by this Department and their valuation.
	The estimated current value of the Department's administrative estate is 65 million.

Prostate Cancer Advisory Group

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures he will take to ensure that the recommendations of the Prostate Cancer Advisory Group will be implemented at Primary Care Trust level.

Hazel Blears: The overall remit of the prostate cancer advisory group is to facilitate collaboration between the Department of Health, the voluntary sector, patient and professional groups and to advise Ministers, the National Cancer Director and the Department of Health on the development of policy on prostate cancer. Ministers will then make final decisions on the direction of national health service policy.

Public and Patient Involvement Forum

Si�n Simon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether foundation hospitals will have a Public and Patient Involvement Forum; and whether such a forum for a trust will be abolished when that trust is given foundation status.

John Hutton: Subject to Parliamentary approval, the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill, Clause 29, sets out the position regarding patients' forums in National Health Service foundation trusts.

Regions White Paper

Joyce Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made by his Department towards the aim in the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice, of encouraging applicants to public bodies from all parts of England; and what change there has been in the geographical diversity of appointees to NDPBs and other public bodies sponsored by his Department since the publication of the White Paper.

David Lammy: All vacancies for national upper tier bodies sponsored by the Department are advertised in the national press, as well as in ethnic minority and disability publications. For lower tier bodies, advertisements are either placed in national publications in the same way, or otherforms of publicity are used such as alerting relevant professional bodies to vacancies. Vacancies on the boards of National Health Service trusts, strategic health authorities and primary care trusts are all advertised in the press local to the body involved. Board members can normally only be appointed if they live in the area served by the body.
	Vacancies for all local and national bodies are also now advertised on the recently established Cabinet Office vacancies website. In addition, the Department publicisedvacancies on Department of Health public bodies at the regional seminars organised in 2002 by the Women and Equality Unit.
	The Department does not collect separate information on the regions in which candidates appointed to bodies reside.

Residential Care

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 2 April, Official Report, column 778W, regarding residential care, what steps he is taking to ensure that supply and demand for care is brought into balance in each region; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: It is for local councils to consider how to balance the supply and demand for residential care in their areas in the light of local circumstances. The balance should be determined following consultation with service users and local providers.

Residential Social Workers

Hilton Dawson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many residential social workers were employed in (a) the public sector and (b) the private sector in each local authority area, in each of the last five years.

Jacqui Smith: Information on residential social workers employed in either the public or private sector is not available centrally. The available information on staffing in councils with social services responsibilities in England is available at www.doh.gov.uk/public/psstaff.htm.

Ronkswood Hospital (Asbestos)

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps he has taken to ensure that rubble removed from the Ronkswood hospital site, Worcester, is not contaminated with asbestos; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  whether he owns the freehold of the former Ronkswood hospital site in Worcester; and who is responsible for the redevelopment of the site;
	(3)  what measures he is taking to ensure that the rubble and other materials from former NHS hospitals that are demolished is disposed of in accordance with the legal requirements and that all landfill tax is paid where necessary; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: The freehold for the Ronkswood Hospital site was transferred to Robert Hitchens Ltd. in May 2002 by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals National Health Service Trust. Thereafter all responsibility for the land and the buildings thereon passed to this company and it is understood they will be redeveloping the site.When NHS land is sold to the private sector, all responsibility for that land is also transferred. Before a sale is completed, a trust should hand over its records to the proposed purchaser on any known presence of asbestos or other hazardous material located on the site. Thereafter, it is the responsibility of the new owners to ensure that they carry out their own surveys and comply with all relevant legislation on the disposal of rubble and other material together with the payment of any potential landfill tax.

SARS

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what service level agreements are in place between the Health Protection Agency and former Public Health Laboratory Service laboratories to monitor the outbreak of SARS.

Hazel Blears: The principal role in monitoring the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is for the Health Protection Agency's (HPA) Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre and for its specialist and reference laboratories. There is, accordingly, no requirement for service level agreements on this topic between the HPA and the former laboratories of the Public Health Laboratory Service. The HPA is in the process of agreeing service level agreements with relevant National Health Service trusts for the surveillance and response activities of these laboratories.

SARS

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what role the former Public Health Laboratory Service laboratories are playing in monitoring the SARS outbreak.

Hazel Blears: The role of the former Public Health Laboratories Service laboratories is to isolate and identify micro-organisms from clinical samples, report results to the Health Protection Agency's Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre (CDSC) and refer samples and isolates to specialist and reference laboratories as appropriate. The CDSC has the leading role in monitoring the incidence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and managing the outbreak.

Secondments

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many individuals have been seconded to his Department from the private sector, in each case listing (a) from which organisation and (b) dates of secondments in 200203.

David Lammy: The Department has no records of any secondments from the private sector.

Secondments

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many individuals have been seconded to his Department from NGOs, in each case listing (a) from which organisation and (b) dates of secondments in each year since 199798.

David Lammy: The Department has only maintained detailed records of secondments from Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) since 2001.
	The number of staff seconded into the Department of Health from NGOs and the organisations from which they came is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Numberof people (a) Organisation (b) Date of secondment 
		
		
			 1 Social Services Department 200204 
			 1 London Borough of Croydon 200203 
			 1 Birmingham Social Services Department 200203 
			 1 London Borough of Lewisham 200103 
			 1 South London and Maudsley NHS Trust 200203 
			 1 London Borough of Islington 200203 
			 1 Age Concern England 200103 
			 1 Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea 200204 
			 1 Staffordshire County Council 200203 
			 1 Gateshead Council, Community Based Services 200203 
			 1 Help and Care 200204 
			 1 Nottingham City Council 200204 
			 1 Brighton and Hove City Council 200004 
			 1 London Borough of Ealing 200203 
			 1 London Borough of Lambeth 200203 
			 1 Hillingdon Primary Care Trust 200305 
			 1 Warrington Borough Council 200204 
			 1 Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea 200303 
			 1 London School of Economics 200204 
			 1 Calderdale Primary Care Trust 200204 
			 1 Leeds North West Primary Care Trust 200204 
			 1 Barnet Primary Care Trust 200304 
			 1 Hampshire Ambulance Services Trust 200303 
			 1 Harrow Primary Care Trust 200001 
			 1 Brighton and Sessex NHS Trust 200102 
			 1 St. George's Hospital 200102 
			  St. Mary's Hospital 200203 
			 1 Public Health Laboratory Service 200203 
			 1 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority 200203 
			 1 Trust for the Study of Adolescence 200203 
			 1 Brent Primary Care Trust 200203 
			 1 Drugscope 200203 
			 1 Islington Primary Care Trust 200203 
			 1 National Children's Bureau 200203 
			 1 Salford Primary Care Trust 200304 
			 1 Health Advisory Service 200304 
			 1 Portsmouth City Primary Care Trust 200304 
			 1 National Heart Forum 200304 
			 1 Wirral Hospitals NHS Trust 200103 
			  Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust 200004 
			 2 University College London 199904

Secondments

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many civil servants have been seconded from his Department to (a) the private sector, (b) NGOs and (c) other, broken down by (i) grade of civil servants seconded, (ii) location and (iii) dates of secondments in each year since 199798.

David Lammy: The Department has only maintained detailed records of secondments from the Department to other business organisationsprivate sector and non-government since 2001.
	To obtain accurate information on the dates for each secondment would incur disproportionate costs.
	Information on the number of staff seconded from the Department of Health to other sectors is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Number of staff Grade Location 
		
		
			 5 SCS (Senior Civil Servant) England 
			 1 IP4 (G6/7) EC 
			 36 IP4 (G6/7) England 
			 18 IP3 (HEO/SEO) England 
			 13 IP2 (EO) England 
			 4 IP1 (AA/AO) England 
		
	
	One member of staff at IP2 level has been seconded from the Department to the private sector since the year 2001.
	One member of staff at IP3 level has been seconded from the Department to a non-government organisation since the year 2001.

Shrewsbury Prison (Dental Treatment)

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision has been made for prisoners from HM Prison Shrewsbury to receive dental treatment.

Jacqui Smith: At present two and half hours of dental time are made available to prisoners each week at Shrewsbury prison. This has led to average waiting times to see a dentist of 14 days for a prisoner who is experiencing dental pain and 95 days for a routine appointment. Both waiting times are unacceptable and action will be taken in the near future to bring about reductions.
	The implementation, shortly, of the strategy to modernise dental services for prisoners will provide the prison's dentist and healthcare manager with clear recommendations about what types of dental treatment should be carried out in a local prison. Shrewsbury is one of a number of prisons which will receive additional funding this financial year to procure extra dental sessions to reduce excess waiting times. Funding is also being made available to prison health's regional development teams to purchase dental expertise to ensure that advice and assistance is available to accompany implementation of the dental strategy, in order to ensure that unacceptable dental waiting times do not build up again.

Sickness Absence

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff in his Department were on long term sick leave in each of the last five years.

David Lammy: We have defined long-term sick leave to beabsence from work due to sickness for a period of ninety days and over. The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Financial Years Number of staff on long sick term leave 
		
		
			 19981999 49 
			 19992000 59 
			 20002001 71 
			 20012002 47 
			 20022003 22 
		
	
	Staff members whose absence spans from one year to another are counted again in the second year.
	The Department has agreed with Cabinet Office and Her Majesty's Treasury, public service agreement targets for reducing its levels of sickness absence. The Department aims to bring absence levels down to 6.8 days per staff year by 2003.

Smallpox Inoculations

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's guidance is for those wishing to have smallpox inoculations.

John Hutton: Smallpox vaccination is not being offered to the general population at present. Smallpox vaccine has a much higher rate of serious complications than vaccines that are in regular use today. Certain groups are at even higher risk, such as those with weak immune systems or with eczema. We are following World Health Organisation (WHO) guidanceand plan to ring vaccinate in the event of a smallpox outbreak. Our contingency plans for dealing with smallpox are detailed in the draft guidelines on smallpox available on http://www.doh.gov.uk/epcu/cbr/biol/smallpoxplan.htm.
	A small number of key frontline national health service staff and a small number of military personnel, who would provide the first response in the event of a confirmed, suspected or threatened release of smallpox, are being vaccinated. The Department of Health programme is under way on a regional basis, co-ordinated by the regional directors of public health.
	We have sufficient stocks of smallpox vaccine, which would be rapidly deployed to contain any outbreak. We have taken steps to considerably increase our supplies. We are planning for every eventuality and this includes the ability to vaccinate the entire population if necessary.
	In addition, guidance for individuals wishing to have smallpox inoculations is available in the information pack, Smallpox Vaccination of Regional Response GroupsInformation for health care workers administering or receiving the vaccine. This guidance is available on www.doh.gov.uk/smallpox/vaccination.

Social Workers

Michael Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of employing social workers in (a) Worcestershire County Council, (b) Warwickshire County Council, (c) Gloucestershire County Council, (d) Birmingham, (e) Coventry, (f) Dudley, (g) Sandwell, (h) Solihull, (i) Walsall and (j) Wolverhampton Metropolitan District Councils.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not held centrally by the Department of Health.

Specialist Registrars

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the number of hospitals in England in which there are (a) fewer than six and (b) fewer than 10 established specialist registrars.

John Hutton: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		England 30 September 2001
		
			 Standard Cluster Registrar group (total number of staff) Number of trusts with fewer than 10 registrars Number of trusts with fewer than 6 registrars 
		
		
			 Acute specialist 567 1 1 
			 Acute specialist (children) 319 0 0 
			 Acute teaching 5,361 0 0 
			 Large Acute 2,525 0 0 
			 Large Multi-service 446 o 0 
			 Medium Acute 1,263 0 0 
			 Medium Multi-service 348 3 0 
			 Priority single service (79) 479 10 7 
			 Small Acute 899 2 2 
			 Small Multi-service 37 2 1 
			 Specialised community (80) 561 48 36 
		
	
	(79) Priority single service consists of learning disability  mental health hospitals.
	(80) Specialised community cluster consists of community hospitals with mental health and care trusts.Note:Excludes organisations with no staff in the registrar group.Source:Department of Health Medical  Dental workforce census.

Sustainable Policies (NHS)

Patsy Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what progress have been made in reducing energy use in the NHS;
	(2)  what progress has been made on embedding sustainable practice in the National Health Service;
	(3)  what progress have been made in producing a low carbon economy in the NHS.

John Hutton: The National Health Service has been highly successful in meeting the energy efficiency target of 20 per cent, reduction in energy use from 1990 to March 2000.
	In April 2001, in accordance with the Government Climate Change Programme, the Department of Health introduced mandatory targets for NHS organisations in England with the aim or reducing the level of primary energy consumed and also carbon emissions produced by the NHS. The targets are:
	To reduce the level of primary energy consumption by 15 per cent, or 0.15 million tonnes carbon from March 2000 to March 2010.
	To achieve a target of 3255 Gigajoules per 100 cubic metres (Gj/lOOcu.m) energy efficiency performance for the healthcare estate for all new capital developments andmajor redevelopments or refurbishments; and that all existing facilities should achieve a target of 5565 Gj/lOOcu.m.
	The Department does not differentiate between energy efficiency and carbon efficiency targets.
	To assist the NHS work towards meeting these targets and embedding sustainable practices in the NHS, NHS Estates issued the New Environmental Strategy for the NHS in 2002 together with the guidance document, Sustainable Development in the NHS and the software tool, NHS Environmental Assessment Tool (NEAT). NHS Estates is also working closely with Action Energy and the Carbon Trust to support the NHS and provide them with best practice advice and guidance on sustainable practices and improving energy efficiency.

Teenage Health Services

Patsy Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will recognise teenagers as a separate category for the delivery of health services.

Jacqui Smith: We recognise that teenagers have particular needs, as far as their health and wellbeing are concerned, that differ from those of younger children or adults. Furthermore, they have different educational and social needs that should also be considered in the design and delivery of health services.
	On 10 April 2003, we published the first part of Getting the right start: the national service framework for children, young people and maternity services, covering the standard for hospital services. Throughout the NSF, the particular needs of different age groups, including teenagers, will be addressed, as will periods of transition between different stages of childhood from pre-birth to adolescence and subsequently into adulthood. The hospital standard recommends that the needs of adolescents are given careful consideration in hospital, such as their need for privacy. We have consulted widely with teenagers, as well as younger children and parents, during the development of the NSF.

Trust Boards (Hemsworth)

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will list people appointed to (a) NHS trusts and (b) primary care trusts in the Hemsworth constituency who have previously neither served on NHS trust boards nor held any other public appointment;
	(2)  if he will list the persons appointed to NHS trusts who live in the Hemsworth constituency.

David Lammy: There are currently no people living in the Hemsworth constituency serving on the boards of national health service trusts. However, the following people who live in the constituency are currently serving on other national health service boards.
	William Barkerchair, Wakefield West Primary Care Trust (PCT)
	David Bondnon-executive, Eastern Wakefield PCT
	Roger Grasbynon-executive, West Yorkshire Strategic Health Authority
	Sandra Handynon-executive, Wakefield West PCT
	Roy Hirstnon-executive, Eastern Wakefield PCT
	Donald Marshallnon-executive, Eastern Wakefield PCT
	Roy Widdowsonchair, Eastern Wakefield PCT
	The following people who are currently serving on NHS boards which provide services to the Hemsworth constituency have neither previously served on a local NHS board nor held any other public appointment.
	Jane Beesleynon-executive, Eastern Wakefield Primary Care Trust
	Aysha Divannon-executive, Mid Yorkshire Hospitals HNS Trust
	Anita Fatchettnon-executive, Wakefield West Primary Care Trust
	Janette Firthnon-executive, Wakefield West Primary Care Trust
	Sandra Handynon-executive, Wakefield West Primary Care Trust
	Stephen Hardynon-executive, Wakefield West Primary Care Trust
	Thiruvenkatar Krishnapillainon-executive, South West Yorkshire Mental Health NHS Trust
	Donald Marshallnon-executive, Eastern Wakefield Primary Care Trust
	George Nairn-Briggsnon-executive, Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
	Nabeela Yasin-Iannellinon-executive, Eastern Wakefield Primary Care Trust

Tube Feeding/Hydration

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on the guidelines for doctors issued by the British Medical Association and the General Medicial Council on withdrawing or withholding tube feeding and hydration from patients who are not dying.

David Lammy: Artificial nutrition and hydration are a form of medical treatment and are subject to the same principles as those governing medical treatment. There is no lawful justification for giving or continuing treatment that is not in the best interests of a patient who is unable to consent. The guidance from the British Medical Association and General Medical Council is in line with this legal position.

Tube Feeding/Hydration

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he issues on action relatives may take should they wish to dispute a decision taken by doctors to end a patient's life by withdrawal of food or fluid when this action has not been requested by the patient.

David Lammy: Any decision to withdraw artificial nutrition and hydration where the patient lacks the capacity to consent must be made in the best interests of that patient, based on a judgment that this treatment is of no curative or beneficial effect. Professional guidance states that those close to the patient should be involved in the assessment of the patient's best interests. Where relatives wish to dispute a decision taken about the treatment of a patient who lacks the capacity to consent, they can take this up through the national health service complaints procedure or seek a court judgment. The Department of Health does not issue guidance for relatives specifically on this issue.

Tuberculosis

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions his Department has had with (a) the London Boroughs of (i) Newham and (ii) Brent and (b) the Department for Education and Skills on tuberculosis.

Hazel Blears: The London TB Group, which includes representatives from the London Boroughs of Newham and Brent, meets on a regular basis.
	One of the aims of the Newham scrutiny commission on tuberculosis is to improve awareness of tuberculosis (TB) through education in conjunction with the Department for Education and Skills. Newham hosted a World TB Day conference on 24 and 25 March this year with the theme 'People with TB'.

Tuberculosis

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are in place to help local health authorities in (a) improving early referral and (b) proactive screening of high risk groups for tuberculosis; and what form proactive screening of high risk groups for tuberculosis by local health authorities will take.

Hazel Blears: Primary care trusts (PCTs) have their own arrangements in place for screening and referral of patients in high-risk categories for tuberculosis (TB).
	The forthcoming TB Action Plan aims to issue standardised advice for all PCTs to follow.

Union Flag

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what figures he collates on how many NHS hospitals fly the Union Flag on a daily basis.

John Hutton: This information is not collected centrally.

University College Hospital

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect on the (a) Whittington Hospital and (b) Royal Free Hospital of the granting of foundation status to University College Hospital.

John Hutton: As outlined in chapter 7 of A Guide to NHS Foundation Trusts, the second stage application process for prospective national health service foundation trusts will require applicants to demonstrate the support of key stakeholder groups and proposals for how local communities will be encouraged to exercise ownership and control within the new organisation.

Waiting Times

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many patients had been waiting for longer than 26 weeks for a first out-patient appointment at the end of March 2003;
	(2)  how many patients had been waiting for more than 15 months for in-patient treatment at the end of March 2003.

John Hutton: Information by time-band on the number of patients waiting for in-patient treatment and a first out-patient appointment at the end of March 2003 will be published on 16 May 2003.

Websites

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the (a) cost of and (b) number of visitors to each website operated by his Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which his Department is responsible in each year since its establishment.

John Hutton: The Department of Health's website (www.doh.gov.uk) was established in June 1995. The cost of the Department's website is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Financial year Total cost (000) 
		
		
			 199899 219.8 
			 19992000 313.7 
			 200001 457.1 
			 200102 658.9 
			 200203 722.6 
		
	
	These figures include hosting and maintenance, development and estimated staff costs (based on agreed Civil Service staff costs including salaries, common services etc.). Costs for earlier years are not available separately from the total information technology costs.
	The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) provided hosting until the end of June 2002. While its website was hosted at OGC, the Department used page impressions rather than hits as a measure of usage. The figures for the years 1996 to 2001 are shown in the table.
	
		
			 Calendar year Page impressions 
		
		
			 1996 (estimated) 200,000 
			 1997 (estimated) 520,000 
			 1998 4,533,775 
			 1999 16,485,398 
			 2000 37,504,218 
			 2001 48,337,144 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. These figures include both static HTML content and Domino database content.
	2. Website usage for 199597 is estimated (based on average weekly figures).
	Since June 2002, EDS Ltd. has been the hosting provider for the Department's website. Comparable usage figures for the calendar year 2002 are unavailable. EDS provides a monthly service report that includes a web performance return in which traffic to the Department's website is measured in 'visits'.
	The number of visits to the Department's static HTML website between July 2002 and March 2003 averaged 885,123 visits per month. In each month of this year to date the number of visits has been over one million. It should be noted, however, that this figure does not include visits to any of the 65 Domino databases, which form part of the Departments' site. Visit counts for these databases are currently unavailable.
	To identify the costs and the number of visitors to each agency and non-departmental public body website associated with the Department of Health, which are not all directly operated by the Department, would incur disproportionate costs. However, the available information about each of the Department's Executive Agencies' websites is listed as follows:
	NHS Pensions Agency (www.nhspa.gov.uk)
	Information on visitors to and costs of the site is shown in the table.
	
		
		
			  2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Total visitors to internet site (81) 110,016 48,240 
			 Total visitors to NHSnet site  (82)75,706 (82)779,275 
			 Capital costs of the site 344,100 (83),(84) (83),(84) 
			 Annual budget for running the site 50,500 (83),(84) (83),(84) 
		
	
	(81) Prior to March 2002, the above information was not analysed and no logs are available.
	(82) The site did not go fully live until March 2002, and at present, covers Employing Authorities and not GPs. A range of applications for NHS Employers, an extension of web-based forms for updating, were developed in late 2002 and released early in 2003, which accounts for the increased level of traffic. Currently, for security reasons this is only available on the NHSnet version of the site, but it is planned to extend to the public internet site when security can be assured.
	(83) IT FM and Development services were outsourced from January 2002 to Envision and most of the costs are absorbed within their overall contract price for all services over the lifetime of the contract and are therefore difficult to apportion.
	(84) Capital costs: Development costs are included and cover the running and supporting of three sites: Internet, Intranet and NHSnet. We did not have time to apportion equipment costs and post 31 December 2001 they are built into the overall contract price and not separately identified. The costs included prior to 31 December 2001 are for site development using outsourced staff.
	The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (www.pasa @doh.gov.uk)
	The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency was established on 1 April 2000. Information on visitors to and cost of the site is shown in the table.
	
		
			  200001 200102 200203 
		
		
			 Total cost () 30,000 87,000 121,000 
			 Total visitors 288,000 384,000 468,000 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Total costs include cost of staff salaries.
	2. 'Visitors' is the number of people entering the website via the home page (excluding those who have bookmarked favourite pages), and is not the number of hits on the site (which would be far higher).
	3. Costs exclude externally hosted website applications.
	The Medicines Control Agency (MCA) (www.mca.gov.uk)
	The MCA is unable to isolate the cost of the website from general IT costs and only has website usage figures available from November 2001. These are shown in the table.
	
		
			 Calendar year Page impressions 
		
		
			 2001 (2 months) 38,919 
			 2002 (12 months) 9,542,720 
			 2003 (3 months) 3,233,937 
		
	
	The Medical Devices Agency (MDA) (www.medical-devices.gov.uk)
	The MDA's website was set up in 1998. The cost of the MDA's website is shown in the table. They include hosting and maintenance, development and staffing costs based on agreed Civil Service staff costs (including salaries, common services, etc).
	
		
			 Financial year Total Cost (000) 
		
		
			 199899 15.1 
			 19992000 15.2 
			 200001 70.0 
			 200102 33.7 
			 200203 82.6 
		
	
	The increase in hosting and maintenance charges between 2002 and 2003 was caused by the OGC's decision to drop its role as an Internet service provider, requiring MDA to transfer its website to a commercial provider. The current hosting supplier is Interliant.
	In 2000 a major redevelopment was initiated to prepare the site as the primary mechanism for meeting the e-government target of 2005 for delivery of services electronically. The announcement of the merger of MDA and the MCA to form the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) from 1 April 2003 has resulted in a new site for MHRA, which links to the existing MCA and MDA sites. A fully integrated website for MHRA is planned.
	The OGC provided hosting until the end of February 2002. While its website was hosted at OGC, MDA used page impressions rather than hits as a measure of usage. With the move to Interliant, other statistics have become available but the page impressions statistic is used in the following table to allow comparison. The figures for the five years from 1998 to 2002 are shown.
	
		
			 Calendar Year Page Impressions 
		
		
			 1998 203,195 
			 1999 398,475 
			 2000 698,175 
			 2001 (85)990,963 
			 2002 3,970,174 
		
	
	(85) Partial estimatefigures not available for end of year.
	NHS Estates (www.nhsestates.gov.uk)
	The NHS Estates website was created in September 2000. At 31 March 2003, the total cost of establishing the site and maintaining it was 267,100. During the period 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003, the total number of hits to the site was 16,783,592. Earlier figures are not available.

Young Carers

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what percentage of young carers have been assessed for their ability to provide for the person they care for;
	(2)  what measures have been taken since January 2002 to improve the conditions of young carers.

Jacqui Smith: Young carers are assessed in line with the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families, in the same way as other potential children in need. The Government's aim is to ensure that young carers are not expected to carry inappropriate levels of caring with emphasis on helping the family as a whole, rather than focussing exclusively on the needs of individuals within it, whether these be disabled adults or young carers.
	The Carers Grant, worth 100 million in 200304, provides money for local councils to help carers which can include providing short breaks to support them in their caring role. Following my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State's announcement in July 2002, the Grant will continue until 2006, during which time it will more than double to 185 million to provide extended care and 130,000 further breaks to carers.
	In addition, we are supporting the development of over 100 young carers' projects across the country to give carers of school age access to appropriate advice, information and support or leisure.